Minor Setback IV
by SweetSauce
Summary: This is the fourth part of the Minor Setback series. The Huddy adventure continues
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:** All rights belong to Fox and David Shore. **  
Author's Note:** A big thanks to my __beta __**i luv ewansmile** who is simply awesome!_

_This one is dedicated to everyone who PM'd me asking for another sequel. Thank you and I hope you all like it. __As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)_

***

_**June 8, 2009**_

The Cuddy-House clan has been back in Princeton for about three months now. While Cuddy wasted no time jumping back to being PPTH's Dean of Medicine, House opted to take his sweet time with his rehabilitation. House spends his mornings in therapy sessions, and then has lunch with his wife and/or his best friend at noon. By one-thirty, he picks up the twins from pre-school and little Lizzy from daycare. Today is no different than any other day as the kids are warmly welcomed home by the smell of their Oma's homemade cookies. While Blythe agreed to move up to Princeton with the clan, she preserves her newfound independence by insisting on living in a nearby apartment.

As the twins run to give their Oma a warm hug, Blythe gently reminds them "wash your hands before you eat your snacks."  
The twins' jockey for position on who'll be the first one to use the bathroom sink.  
Meanwhile, Lizzy asks her father "Daddy, do you love me this much?" as she spreads her hands wide apart.  
House looks at his daughter in surprise and replies "of course. What's bothering you little princess?"  
The little girl replies "Maddy said her Mommy and Daddy loves her so much, they're giving her a baby sister."  
"Oh yeah? Tell Maggie that your mommy and daddy love you more, that's why we gave you three big brothers."  
"But, I'm not a big sister."  
"You're a big sister to Wilson's kid"  
Lizzy sadly replies "but baby Becky lives with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Wilson."  
"Even better. You get to play with the rugrat and when she gets cranky we can give her back to her parents."  
"But that I wanna be big sister all day."  
Charlie yells "No! One whiny little girl is enough."  
Blythe gently reprimands Charlie to be nice to his sister.  
Lizzy ignores her brother and pleads "Daddy, if you give me a baby sister, I'll be the bestest big sister ever."  
"I'm sure you will princess but, we'll have to ask Mommy okay?"  
"Can we call Mommy now?"  
"Uh…later princess. "

One of the deals that Cuddy made with her husband prior to uprooting the family back to Princeton is agreeing to expand their sprawling estate—specifically, the addition of an indoor pool. It's one of the features that the House kids really enjoyed in their Baltimore condo. As their father speaks to the construction manager, the twins eagerly wait by the basement door.  
Ethan speculates "the pool is ready."  
Charlie asks "how do you know?"  
"Look" as Ethan points to the covered path that connects the main house to the addition. "There are no more tools."  
Charlie shrug his shoulder and replies "that's because Mommy told them to put away their tools when they're done working."  
Ethan nods "Mommy is right you know. Tools are dangerous. Someone could get hurt."  
"Who can get hurt?"  
"You know. Mommy, Daddy, Oma, you or Lizzy."  
"Oh Ethan, you worry too much."  
"Nu-uh"  
"Uh-huh"

Lizzy walks in and asks "what you looking at?"  
Charlie replies "go away. Babies are not allowed here."  
"I'm not a baby. I'm going to be a big sister."  
"No you're not!"  
"Uh huh. Daddy's gonna give me a baby sister."  
"No he's not. Puppies are better than whiny baby sisters. We'll ask Daddy for a puppy."  
Lizzy replies "but I asked Daddy first."  
Charlie counters "maybe we'll just exchange you for a puppy."  
Lizzy looks at Charlie in horror and is on the brink of crying when Ethan puts his arms around his sister and says "don't believe him. He's just kidding."  
Charlie replies "no, I'm not. While you're sleeping, we're gonna take you to pet store and exchange you for a puppy."  
Lizzy starts crying and immediately rushes off to her Oma.  
Ethan pushes his brother and says "stop it! That's not funny."  
Charlie pushes back and replies "you stop it! Why do you always take her side?"  
"Because she's our baby sister. We're supposed to take care of her, not scare her."  
Charlie shrugs his shoulder and replies "she's annoying. All she does is sing and have tea parties."  
"She's a girl. That's what girls do."  
"Yeah, so let's exchange her for a puppy, it'll be more fun."  
"When I get sick at school, do you want to exchange me for a puppy too?"  
"No! You're my buddy. We take care of each other."  
"If we have another sister, Lizzy will have a buddy."  
"You think she'll stop annoying us?"  
Ethan nods his head.  
Charlie quietly gives it a thought and replies "puppies are more fun than annoying little sisters. Why would we want two annoying sisters?"  
Ethan replies "if Daddy says yes to Lizzy, we can ask Mommy for a puppy."  
Charlie raises his brows and smile at Ethan's idea.

Blythe walks down to the basement with a crying Lizzy in her arms and exclaims "Charlie, didn't I tell you to be nice to your sister?"  
Charlie gives his Oma the puppy-eyes look and replies "I was just kidding, Oma."  
As House walks in, Lizzy tearfully informs him "Daddy, Charlie says he's going to give me away for a puppy!"  
House looks at Charlie and asks "is that true?"  
Charlie shrugs his shoulder and quickly changes the topic "can we see the pool now, Daddy?"  
"Nope. And apologize to your sister."  
Charlie tentatively says "Sorry Lizzy."  
House asks "sorry for what?"  
"I'm sorry that I said I was gonna exchange you for a puppy."  
Lizzy asks "do you mean it?"  
"Of course! You're my baby sister. I'm not gonna give you away."  
Lizzy smiles and gives her brother a peck on the cheek.  
Charlie is about to say something but quickly receives a glare from both his Daddy and Oma.  
_**TBC**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer:**__ All rights belong to Fox and David Shore. __**  
Author's Notes:**__ Just want to give thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__.__ I greatly appreciate your edits and comments. Please don't ever change._

_Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to send me feedbacks. You won't believe how much your reviews motivate me to write more, please keep them coming! Also, thanks to all my "shy" but loyal readers for the story alerts. It warms my heart that you all are silently reading my fic. _

***

As Cuddy comes home, she's immediately greeted by warm hugs and kisses from her children. She looks over by the kitchen and can't help but smile at the sight of her husband who's wearing a red apron while cooking dinner. Cuddy thinks to herself "damn! He still looks hot after all these years."  
House smirks as he catches his wife checking him out and smugly asks "you like what you see Mrs. House?"  
She coyly answers "yeah? does it taste as good as it looks?"  
"You better believe it. Like fine wine, it gets better with time."  
"So, how long has it been simmering?"  
"Extra long."  
"You know I like mine extra firm."  
"Oh don't worry. It'll fully satisfy you Mrs. House."

Ethan gives his parents a perplexed look for a second and declares "we're having pasta with pork-based ragu. I helped Daddy cook it Mommy."  
Cuddy gives Ethan a kiss on his forehead and says "I'm sure you and Daddy did a good job. I can't wait to taste it."  
Cuddy looks over to Charlie and asks "did you help Daddy?"  
Charlie boringly replies "yeah. I spun the salad thingy."  
Cuddy asks her daughter "how about you? Did you help Daddy tonight?"  
Lizzy shakes her head and shows a Disney princess band aid on her finger "I have a booboo Mommy."  
Cuddy kisses her daughter's booboo and asks "what happened hon?"  
Lizzy wraps her arms around and snuggles her head by the crook of her mother's neck.  
Ethan calmly explains "she tried to run after Oma and her finger got caught in the door."  
Charlie shrugs his shoulder and adds "it was nothing, just a teeny-weeny drop of blood. Daddy fixed her and she was fine."  
Cuddy gently kisses her daughter and softly asks "were you a brave girl for Daddy?"  
Lizzy nods her head and exclaims "yes, Daddy promised me a baby sister."  
Cuddy frowns at her husband and yells "House!"  
"What?"  
Cuddy swiftly tells the kids to wash up and get ready for dinner.

After the kids are out of earshot, Cuddy asks "have you gone insane? You can't promise her a baby sister?"  
House replies "why not? It's not like you had me fixed while I was in a coma or something."  
Cuddy looks at her husband incredulously.  
"You didn't have me fixed, right?"  
"Of course not!"  
"Good! Then, what's with the long face?"  
"You don't remember?"  
"Remember what?"  
"You had a vasectomy."  
"When? And why would I do that?"  
"Weeks before you went into a coma. You…you said you didn't want to have more kids."  
House immediately notices the sadness in Cuddy's voice and asks "were you present during the procedure?"  
"No. You insisted on having it done in another hospital."  
House shrugs his shoulder and smugly replies "an outpatient vasectomy procedure sounds like good cover story for an addict trying to hide a score from his family."  
Cuddy hesitantly asks "you didn't have a vasectomy?"  
House shakes his head and asks "do you really think I would willingly trust Mr. Happy with anyone with a scalpel?"  
Cuddy breathes a sigh of relief but in a low voice adds "you know you still can't just make those types of promises to our kids."  
"Why? Are you having doubts that I can still deliver?"  
Before Cuddy could come up with a response, Charlie asks "Mommy, the pool is done. Daddy said we can see it when you're home. Can we go and see it now?"  
Ethan adds "please Mommy. Daddy said we can see the pool after you came home."  
Cuddy smiles "of course hon. But not until after dinner."

***

After tucking all the kids to bed, House heads straight to their bedroom.  
Cuddy walks in to see her husband lying in bed wearing nothing but his smug smile.  
"Greg! One of the kids could have walked in and saw you naked."  
"Why would they do that when we just tucked them in bed?"  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and heads straight to the bathroom to change.  
"Hey, I'm fulfilling my promise to my baby girl."  
"Greg, you can't say yes to everything our daughter asks."  
"I don't say yes to everything she asks."  
Cuddy raises her brows.  
"Maybe… some of the times?"  
She gives him the look and he folds like a lawn chair "but she's so damn cute when she gives me that same look you're giving me now."  
"I know your heart melts for your little girl and you can't say no."  
House nods and replies "yeah, and the boys have a hold on you too."  
Cuddy smiles and says "we're doomed. They're not even six years old and they already have us wrapped around their little fingers."  
"Would you rather that we get them a puppy?"  
Cuddy shakes her head and replies "we'll get stuck walking, feeding, and cleaning after a puppy."  
House raises his brow and asks "what do you want to do?"  
"Maybe get them a hamster or a fish?"  
"How about a python?"  
"No!"  
"A tarantula?  
"No!"

"An iguana?"  
"Go to sleep Greg. We don't have to make a decision tonight."

***

_**June 9, 2009 (7:20AM)  
**_House is awaken by the twins excitedly jumping on the bed and simultaneously talking.  
He groggily asks "boys, one at a time."  
Ethan starts "we don't have school today."  
Charlie adds "Mommy said you'll take us to the pet store. Are we getting a puppy today?"  
"Nope, maybe we can get a hamster or a fish."  
Ethan asks "what's a hamster, Daddy?"  
House replies "it's a small rodent. Ok guys, Daddy needs to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you both outside."  
Charlie asks "why can't we get a puppy?"  
"We'll get a puppy when you two are older and can take care of it. Now, out you go so Daddy can change."  
Ethan answers "Mommy said we need to wait for you so you don't go back to sleep."  
House smirks and instead asks the boys "can one of you get Daddy's underwear over by the chair?"  
Ethan hands it to his father and asks "does Mommy know you're not wearing your undies when you sleep?"  
House smugly smiles and replies "oh yeah."  
"You don't get cold, Daddy?"  
Before House can answer, Charlie asks "is Jake old enough to get a puppy?"  
House answers "yeah, why?"  
Ethan excitedly replies "Jake is home and he's staying for the whole week!"

***

As House enters the kitchen, he's greeted by his eldest son "good morning, Dad!"  
House mumbles "good morning." He walks near his eldest son and in a low tone asks "are you in some kind of trouble?"  
Jake smiles and replies "nope, just decided to take a week off and spend time with my family."  
Ethan gives his big brother a hug and says "I missed you Jake."  
"Thanks, I missed you too kiddo."  
Charlie asks Jake "do you like puppies?"  
"Depends, is the puppy housebroken?"  
"Do puppies break?"  
House interrupts the twins and tells them to go watch TV in the family room.

Jake looks over to his father and asks "I heard you're heading back to work this week."  
"Yeah. It's your Mom's sick idea of a birthday gift."  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and replies "if it was last week, you'd come up with another excuse."  
"Oh yeah, a good wife would give her husband a nice birthday present like a free lap dance or a blow…"  
Cuddy warns "finish that sentence and you'll get the Bobbitt treatment."  
Jake starts laughing and tells his father "I'll be home for the whole week. Maybe I can help you out a bit."  
Cuddy replies "that will be great honey. Knowing your Dad, I'm sure he'll find a way to get lost on the way to work."  
House exclaims "hey, I'm standing right here. Words can hurt you know"  
Cuddy smiles and whisper to House "Oh, does my husband need his huge ego stroked?"  
House smirks and seductively replies "well, there's another part of my anatomy that's both huge and needs stroking."  
Cuddy gives House a deep kiss but quickly stops and says "woops, I'm late so I guess I'll have to deal with your huge ego later on."  
The twins look at their parents, then each other and declares "adults are weird!"  
_**TBC**_

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Notes:**__ Special thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__. You Rock!.  
Also, big cyberhugs to everyone who continue to leave me reviews. More reviews= frequent updates ;-)_

***

_**June 9, 2009 (4:50PM)  
**_House heads straight to his wife's office and smiles at the sign on her door. It's been there for months but it still elicits a powerful reaction from him. The same feeling he felt when his eldest son wore his lab coat around the hospital—pride. He can't help but smirk at the realization that he's married to the hottest and smartest woman in PPTH.  
As he opens the door, Cuddy quickly gives him a smile and asks, "To what do I owe this visit?"  
"I was in the area, I thought I drop by and give my girl a visit."  
"And why would you be in the area?"  
"Consult with Wilson. So, how's your day?"  
"I guess, better than yours. I heard you all had a bit of an adventure at the pet store."  
"Who spilled?"  
"It seems everybody has a story to tell."  
"Yeah, Lizzy is petrified of pet stores and the twins thought the fish were boring."  
"How about hamsters?"  
"We didn't go that far when Charlie started sneezing uncontrollably. When his face turned bright red, Ethan of course, started panicking thinking that something bad was going to happen to his twin brother."  
"Charlie has allergies?"  
House nods and adds "he's allergic to something in the pet store. Actually, Charlie is not the only one."  
"You too?"  
"Nope, spawn #1. It was a symphony of sneezes between him and Charlie."  
"I'm sorry you got the trifecta of meltdowns."  
House shrugs his shoulders and replies "it was nothing that a visit to the toy store couldn't solve."  
"Ah…so that's where the dinosaur and walking doll came from."  
House smirks and replies "it's not just any dinosaur. It's the coolest robo-dinosaur that has this remote control and you can have the dino pick up stuff. It's like a pet without the hassles."  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and asks "and the walking doll?"  
"It walks, it giggles, and it needs feeding. What more can our baby girl want?" He adds "…and it's easier than kidnapping Ryan Seacrest."  
Cuddy can't help but laugh at her husband's remark.

"So, what have you been up to? I mean besides playing matchmaker to my Mom."  
Cuddy nervously replies "what?"  
"You don't think I'll wonder why my mom has all these errands that she has to do as soon as I get home?"  
"She's keeping herself busy. Of all people, you should be happy that she's pursuing new things."  
"Pursuing new things is fine. But I don't like it when some moron is pursuing her."  
"Really?"  
"And don't play coy with me. I know you set my Mom up with Stevens."

"Who?"  
"Of course, Mom just bumped into Stevens while she's buying diapers at the grocery store."  
"Oh, Dr. Stevens! I might have introduced them when Blythe came to visit me here."  
House looks at his wife suspiciously and replies "Stevens retired six months ago so why would he be hanging around your office?"  
"Because he's a good guy and he volunteers in the clinic three days a week."  
House puts two fingers to point to his own eyes and then to Cuddy's and says "I'm keeping my eyes on you Mrs. House."

***

_**June 9, 2009 (6:20PM)  
**_Cuddy walks into the club house with a newly bathed Lizzy in her arms. Jake and the twins are still in the pool swimming so Cuddy yells "come on boys, it's your turn to take a bath."  
Charlie yells back "five more minutes."  
Cuddy replies "sorry Charlie but supper will be ready in fifteen minutes. You know how your Daddy gets when everyone is not seated when dinner is served."  
As Jake and Ethan gets out of the pool, Charlie whines "but I'm not hungry."  
"Even if you're not eating dinner, you still have to come out of the pool."  
"But I don't wanna."  
"Too bad young man. Unless you want to swim in the dark by yourself."  
Ethan yells "come on Charlie. Let's take a bath and then we can show Mommy our new dinosaurs."  
Charlie smiles and asks "can the dinosaur take a bath with us?"  
Cuddy looks at Jake and asks "isn't the dinosaur made out of electronics of some kind?"  
Jake nods and explains "no can do kiddo. First of all, you'll get electrocuted if you submerge it in the tub with you. Secondly, your robo-dino dies if it gets wet."  
Charlie argues "what if it needs a bath?"  
Jake smiles and replies "Mommy will clean it for you."  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and answers "thanks a lot Jake."  
Jake grins as he takes his brothers back to the house.

As Cuddy picks up all the toys and locks up the club house, Lizzy asks "can Molly take a bath with me?"  
Cuddy shakes her head "sorry honey. Molly is also made of electronics so she can't get wet either."  
"If I have a baby sister, can she take a bath with me?"  
"Yes, but not until she's older."  
"How old?"  
"Maybe your age."  
"Ok, can I have a baby sister please, Mommy?"  
"Uh…hon, it's not that easy."  
"Ethan says you and Daddy will just have to call and order one."  
"What? No!"  
"The stork doesn't come and deliver the baby?"  
"Uh…not exactly."  
"Where did I come from Mommy?"  
Cuddy smiles and replies "you know how your Daddy always says he's a genius?"  
Lizzy nods her head and proudly answers "my Daddy is a genius!"  
"I know. I think you should ask Daddy to tell you the story of where you came from during reading time."  
"Good idea, Mommy."  
Lisa smiles and thinks to herself "this will be good."

***

After dinner, Cuddy asks Jake "can you tuck the boys into bed tonight?"  
Jake hesitantly replies "sure. Are you and Dad going somewhere?"  
"Nope, I'm helping your Dad tuck Lizzy in tonight."  
"Oo…kay. May I ask why?"  
"Lizzy wants to ask where babies come from and I want to hear how your Dad answers her question."  
Jake raises his brows and asks "you trust him to answer that question?"  
"Not really. I just wanna see him squirm a bit."  
"I don't know Mom."  
"Oh don't worry. He told Ethan that it's like a pizza delivery. He just makes a call and the stork will deliver the baby to my tummy."  
Jake skeptically replies "that doesn't sound like Dad."

After brushing her teeth, Lizzy excitedly gets under the bed covers.  
While Cuddy pretends to put away laundry, House asks Lizzy "okay baby girl, what are we reading tonight?"  
"Daddy, where do babies come from?"  
House smirks and asks "why do you want to know?"  
"My friend Maddy said her baby sister is in her Mommy's tummy. But my friend Erica said she came from China. Where did I come from?"  
House proudly replies "you came out of your Mommy's hoo-ha!"  
Cuddy immediately yells "House!"  
A confused Lizzy asks "Mommy's who?"  
"What Daddy meant to say was you lived in Mommy's tummy for nine months."  
Lizzy nods and asks "why did Erica come from China?"  
Before House could reply, Cuddy immediately elbowed him in the ribs.  
"What?"  
After spending the next half hour explaining to Lizzy the difference about pregnancy and adoption, Cuddy glares at her husband.  
House takes off his eye glasses and asks "what? You know better than to have her ask me that question."  
"You're right. I should know better than to trust you."  
"Hey, I told her the truth."  
"But you told Ethan about the stork delivering the baby."  
House raises his brows and replies "that sounds like something Wilson would say. Remind me to keep our kids away from him."

_*******_

_**June 10, 2009**_  
House wakes up to a very pleasant surprise from his wife. As a sated House lies in bed with a content smile on his face, he asks "you know my birthday is not until tomorrow, right?"  
"I know. Just wanted to give you a little something something for your first day back to work."  
House groans "why do you have to remind me of that?"  
"Come on Greg, it'll be fun. You get to go back to solving your puzzles and mocking your team while you do it."  
"What team?"  
"Chase, Kutner, and Hadley volunteered to come and work for you."  
"Why?"  
"They're obviously masochist or they need psychiatric help," Cuddy replied sarcastically.  
"Hey, that's my team you're talking about."  
Cuddy smiles and adds "remember to play nice at work and you'll get your reward when you get home."  
"So, we'll start working on our new project tonight?"  
"We'll see."  
House gives his wife a curious look but is too tired to argue.  
_**TBC**_

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note #1:**__ Special thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__. I greatly appreciate all the suggestions and edits._

**This is part 1 of House's first day back at work.**

***

_**10:00AM**_  
House is driving to work with his eldest son riding shotgun, when Jake starts changing the radio station.  
House swats Jake's hands and says "touch my radio and you'll be walking to work."  
"There's nothing good. Can I plug in my iPod?"  
House looks over to his son and asks "so, what's really bothering you?"  
"Nothing."  
"Nothing always means something."  
"I…"  
"Hmmm..."  
"I'm dating this girl and I…"  
"Got her pregnant?"  
"No!"  
"Wanna get her pregnant?"  
"Dad!"  
"What? If you don't want me to speculate, then spit it out quickly."  
"I will if you stop interrupting me."  
House glares at his son.  
Jake continues "her name is Lori and I met her through the rowing club. We… you know started hanging out for awhile then we start you know..."  
"No, I don't know and I'm not interested in knowing. Unless, that is what's bothering you. Do you need Daddy to teach you the finer points of doing the horizontal tango?"  
"Oh god no! What I'm trying to say is…I think she might be THE ONE."  
"Oh no you didn't."  
"I haven't done anything."  
"But you're seriously thinking about it?"  
Jake shrugs his shoulder.  
"I'm sure Tori is a nice girl, but why are you a hurry? "  
"Her name is Lori and no, I'm not in a hurry."  
"Then why are you even thinking about it?"  
"I don't know. I just thought it would be the next thing to do."  
"Is she pressuring you to get married?"  
"No. I don't think so."  
House smiles and asks "how old is she?"  
"Twenty-six. Why?"  
"You've been attending several of her friend's weddings lately?"  
Jake nods.  
"And you feel obligated to pop the question so she won't feel left out?"  
Jake shrugs his shoulder and replies "I like her and I'm just afraid that I won't get a chance to know her more if I don't..."  
"You think she's gonna dump you because you don't put a ring on her finger?"  
"I don't know Dad. I'm not good at these things."  
House grins "yeah, so am I. You got those genes from me."  
Jake nervously laughs and asks "what should I do, Dad?"  
House exhales and replies "I know I'm gonna regret this but I think you may wanna speak to Wilson."  
"Why? He's been married four times."  
"Yeah, a cautionary tale for you if you keep thinking that you need to marry every girl you like."  
Both father and son laugh.

House parks the car and asks "feel any better?"  
Jake forces a smile and replies "Dad?"  
"Yeah?"  
"You mentioned a while back that you knew that Mom was THE ONE even back when you were in college. Do you think your life would have been different if you had proposed to her back then?"  
"I did propose to her."  
"You did? What happened?"  
"It's a long story. The point is you don't ask a girl to marry you because you're obligated to or you're feeling guilty. You only propose if you think you want to spend the rest of your life with her."  
"Did you feel that way when you propose to Mom?"  
"You bet! I can't imagine a future worth living without her by my side."  
Jake smiles at his father's revelation and says "thanks Dad. I'm glad we had this talk."  
"No problem. And Jake?"  
"Yeah Dad?"  
"Mention this conversation to your Mom and you're dead!"  
Jake smiles and replies "I love you too, Dad."

_**10:35AM**_  
House enters Cuddy's office and exclaims "how are you this fine morning Dr. Cuddy-House?"  
Cuddy looks up from her laptop and replies "what do you want House?"  
"House? Whatever happened to your highness? You know I rocked your world last night."  
Cuddy tries hard to hide her smile and asks "shouldn't you be in your office working?"  
"Yeah, about that. Where are the minions you promised me?"  
"They're all starting next week."  
"Then why am I starting today?"  
"I need you to complete all the paperwork I gave you. You have to attend the department heads' meeting tomorrow and the Board meeting on Friday."  
"Yeah, your son is working on the forms and why do I need to meet with the Board?"  
"They just want to officially welcome you back."  
"I just remember that I need to take a leave on Friday. I promised the kids that I'll take them to the zoo."  
"No, you are not gonna weasel your way out of Friday's meeting."

"Come on. They just wanna check that I'm not in a wheelchair and drooling all over myself."  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and replies "stop being so melodramatic. Besides, I heard about the last time you took the kids to this so called 'special zoo'."  
"What did you hear?"  
"That this special zoo sounds very much like a horse race track."  
"Hey, horses are animals. And it was family day so the kids got free pony rides."  
"But must you teach them what are exacta, trifecta, superfecta, and daily double?"  
House grins and replies "Charlie is a natural."  
Cuddy groans "oh god!"

_**11:35AM**_  
Wilson greets House "hey, welcome back."  
House continues fiddling with the packets and without looking up says "thanks."  
Curious as to what House is doing, Wilson walks closer and asks "are you doing what I think you're doing?"  
"Hmmm…I don't know. What exactly do you think I'm doing?"  
"House! The point of a condom is to prevent pregnancy. Poking holes in them defeats that purpose."  
"Oh don't worry. It's just a backup plan."  
"Backup for what?"  
"In the event she ask me to wear one."  
"Why would she? I would assume that she's on the pill."  
"Au contraire, mon frère."  
"She's not on the pill?  
"Nope, she thought I had a vasectomy before I went in a coma."  
"You told her you had a vasectomy?"  
"What do you expect from an addict?"  
"So you lied to her about having a vasectomy to hide your addiction?"  
"The hallucination had gotten worst so I lied that I'm having the procedure done in New York."  
"And she believed you?"  
House nods.

"Since when did you start wanting more kids?"  
House shrugs his shoulder and replies "I just want to know why she's having second thoughts about another spawn."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Lizzy asked for a baby sister and Lise wants to think about it."  
"That sounds reasonable. I only have one kid and I'm exhausted. I could just imagine how having five kids and running a hospital could be any easier."  
"But she always wanted more kids, she loves being a Mom."  
"Well, she's entitled to change her mind about having more kids."  
"But why?"  
"Oh House, why don't you do what normal people do?"  
"What's that?"  
"Talk to your wife. Tell her that you changed your mind about having another kid. Tell her that you wanna prove you're still a stud."  
"I don't need to prove anything. I know I'm still a stud!"  
"Right, then tell her that!"  
_**TBC**_

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note #1:**__ Special thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__._

_**This is part 2 of House's first day back at work. Enjoy!**_

***

_**1:30PM**_  
House is about to pick up his daughter from the hospital daycare, when another parent greets him.  
"Nice to see you back, House."  
House nods in recognition and answers "I wish I can say the same about you."  
Chase laughs and replies "too bad. Your wife already hired me."  
"I can always fire you again."  
"Hey, I haven't even officially started yet."  
The two quickly stop their banter as two toddlers excitedly run towards them.  
Lizzy proudly shows her father the stamp on her hand and proclaims "I got a star for being a good helper, Daddy."  
House smiles and tells his daughter "great job, baby girl."  
Not to be outdone, Aidan, the twenty-month old son of Chase and Cameron also shows his father his hand.  
Chase looks at Aidan's hand and declares "great, your Mom will be very proud."  
Lizzy whispers to her father "Aidan didn't get a star from the teacher today, so he stamped himself."  
House looks at Aidan's hand and tells Chase "well, if he gets lost at least people know where to return him."  
Aidan has stamped his hand with "IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO PPTH DAY CARE CENTER."

***

_**3:30PM**_  
After dropping Lizzy at home with Blythe, House heads straight to the clinic.  
"Dr. House signing in at 3PM."  
Nurse Regina looks up from her station and tells him "you're late and it's already 3:30."  
"What's the hurry?" He points to the waiting room and adds "it's not like they're going anywhere."  
Nurse Regina replies "it's not them that I'm worried about. Dr. Stevens was supposed to be off at two."  
"Really? So, what keeping him from leaving?"  
"Aside from the fact that you're late, Dr. Thomas had an emergency surgery."  
"I had an emergency too."  
Wilson walks in and interjects "eating ice cream in the quad is not considered an emergency House."  
"Tell that to my daughter and see what you'll get."  
"She's barely three."  
"Yeah, but she has Cuddy genes. When she unleashes her superpower on you, you'll be scared too."

Nurse Regina hands House a folder and points him to exam room #2.  
House opens the file and tells Wilson "I need a consult!"  
Wilson argues "you haven't seen the patient."  
"Duh…it's in the patient's file."  
Wilson follows House to exam room #2, where a young woman nervously asks "you're both doctors?"  
House sarcastically replies "it's your lucky day; you get two doctors for the price of one."  
Wilson apologizes "I'm just here for a consult."  
House asks "how can we help you Miss…?"  
The patient mumbles "my, _you know_ area is very itchy, irritating and painful."  
Wilson quickly realizes House's intention and promptly excuses himself.  
House shrugs his shoulder and grins at Wilson. He takes a couple of gloves and tells the patient to "drop your pants."

After a quick examination, the patient asks "what's wrong with me?"  
"You have candida albicans around your groin area. Commonly refer to as a yeast infection."  
"But I'm not sexually active, how can I get that?"  
"It's not a sexually transmitted disease. When you keep your groin area tightly under wrap, it becomes very warm and moist. A breeding ground for yeast and, as a result, can cause yeast infections."  
"Oh, what can I do?"  
"Apply this gel (Miconazole) and avoid wearing those tight skinny jeans."  
"That's it?"  
"Yup!"

House heads back to the nurses' station and sees his son talking to Dr. Stevens.  
He nods at Stevens and asks Jake "are you coming?"  
Jake quickly says goodbye to Stevens and follows his Dad.  
House asks "How do you know him?"  
"Who? Stevens?"  
"No, the other guy you were talking to."  
Jake looks at his Dad intriguingly and asks "what's wrong Dad?"  
"I asked the question first."  
"I just met him. He introduced himself while I was waiting for you. Why?"  
"He's trying to get into your Oma's pants."  
"Seriously? Way to go Oma!"  
House glares at his son and Jake quickly corrects himself "I mean, wow!"  
"Wow?"  
"He seems like a nice guy. He's not married right?"  
"No, a widower. Wife died five years ago and recently retired from the hospital. Your Mom said he volunteers three days a week in the clinic."  
"Good. Did you talk to him?"  
"About what?"  
"About whatever is bothering you."  
"Nothing's bothering me."  
"Somebody always tells me that nothing always means something" Jake smugly grins at his Dad.  
House hands Jake the patient's file and tells him "okay smartass, room #1 before I give you a rectal exam."

***

_**5:05PM**_  
House is checking his e-mail when Ethan calls and asks "where are you Daddy?"  
"I'm at work E. What's wrong?"  
"Oma said you and Jake would be home at five but you're not here yet."  
"I know. We're heading out now."  
"Daddy?"  
"Yes, E?"  
"Drive carefully, okay?"  
"Of course E."  
"Is Mommy coming home with you and Jake now?"  
"Yeah, she'll be home shortly."  
"Oh Daddy I forgot, Lina dropped by. She brought us some crunchy (eggrolls) and noodles."  
"Great! Now, don't finish all the eggrolls okay?"  
"You're funny Daddy."  
"All right E, Daddy has to hang up the phone now."  
"I love you Daddy."  
"I love you too."

_**5:20PM**_  
Jake is driving when House's phone rings.  
"Hello."  
"Daddy, why didn't you call me?"  
"Hey baby girl. What's wrong?"  
"You talk to Ethan but not me."  
"Because Daddy can't wait to see you at home."  
"But I wanna tell you something."  
"I'm listening."  
"Oh Daddy, Oma bought me a very pretty dress."  
"That's great, baby girl."  
"I'm gonna wear it on your birthday."  
"Great!"  
"That's tomorrow, Daddy. It's Jake's birthday too."  
"I know. Princess, can you do Daddy a favor?"  
"What Daddy?"  
"I want you walk to the mud room and open the door to the garage."  
"Okay Daddy."  
Lizzy follows her father's instruction and is greeted by two shining headlights.  
Lizzy yells "Mommy and Daddy are home!"  
The twins run quickly to join their sister by the door.

_**5:45PM**_  
The entire family is at the pool as House decides to grill some burgers and hotdogs for supper.  
Blythe and Cuddy laugh as the twins decide to follow Jake and do a cannonball into the pool.  
Meanwhile, Lizzy decides to serenade her father by doing an impromptu show near the kitchen.  
"Do you like it Daddy?"  
"Of course, princess. Now go tell your Mommy and Oma to set-up the table."  
"We're eating out here Daddy?"  
"Yup, we're eating by the pool."  
"Like a picnic Daddy?"  
House smiles and replies "yeah, like a picnic."

_**7:20PM**_  
As House is tidying up the pool and getting ready to lock it up for the night, Blythe walks back in.  
"Gregory?"  
"Hey Mom. Did you leave something?"  
Blythe shakes her head and replies "I was wondering if I could have a word with you?"  
House hesitantly replies "sure mom. What's up?"  
"Lisa mentioned that you've been asking about Michael."  
He raises his brows and asks "who's Michael?"  
"I mean Dr. Stevens."  
"Oh, him."  
"Gregory, are you okay with me going out with Michael?"  
"Mom, you don't need my permission to date."  
"I know, I just want to make sure that my boy is okay with it."  
"Yeah, sure. As long as he treats you right."  
"He does. He's very different from your father. He's very smart and caring."  
House simply nods as he notices the smile on his mother's face.  
Blythe asks "would you like to meet him?"  
"Not really."  
"Gregory?"  
"I mean, sure if you want me too."  
"That will be great. Michael has been asking about meeting my family."  
"Why? He knows Lise and me."  
"Oh Gregory, he knows you both as Dr. House and Dr. Cuddy. I want him to meet my son and his lovely wife."  
House rolls his eyes and replies "whatever makes you happy, Mom."

_**9:15PM**_  
After putting the kids to bed, Cuddy walks over to the music room where House continues to play the piano.  
He looks up and notices Cuddy quietly watching him play.  
"Hey, how long have you been standing there?"  
"Long enough to admire what a beautiful song it was. What's it called? "  
House replies "Just a little something I wrote called 'Cuddy's Serenade.'"  
Cuddy smiles, kisses her husband and whispers "I love you so much, Dr. House."  
"I love you too, Mrs. House."

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. _


	6. Chapter 6

_**To my beta: **__i luv ewansmile,__you've been a tremendous resource in ensuring that I keep it real. Thank you so much for all your fantabulous help!  
_

_**To all my readers: **please drop me a note and let me know how I'm doing. Your feedback not only encourages me to continue writing, but it also motivates me update more frequently ;-) _

***

_**June 11, 2009 (Very early.)**_  
House is jolted from his slumber by his giggling young children jumping on the bed.  
"What the fu-"  
Cuddy warns her husband, "Do not finish that sentence."  
Before he can say anything, the kids start singing, "Happy birthday Daddy, Happy birthday Daddy…"  
House quickly grabs the twins by the waist and starts tickling them.  
Lizzy yells, "What about me Daddy?"  
House smiles and asks, "What about you princess?  
He blows raspberries on Lizzy's stomach and the girl starts giggling and laughing.

Cuddy asks the twins, "Weren't you boys gonna give Daddy something?"  
Ethan quickly jumps out of bed and pulls his brother.  
After a minute, the two come back with two gift boxes.  
Ethan gives his father the gift and says, "Open it Daddy."  
House opens the box to reveal a rock paperweight. It's about 4 inches wide, painted in yellow with foam letters spelling 'DADDY YOU ROCK' on the front and decorated with music notes and a guitar on the back.  
Ethan informs his father, "I made it myself. Do you like it, Daddy?"  
House smiles and replies "I love it, E. I'll put it on my desk at work."  
Cuddy beamingly smiles at Ethan and mouths, "Good job!"

Charlie hands a box to his father and reveals, "I made it in pottery class, Daddy."  
It's a red coffee mug with a slightly lopsided lip and twisted handle.  
Charlie grins and adds, "It won't leak."  
House smirks and replies, "That's good to know."  
"Oh… and Daddy, if you nuke it, it won't go kaboom."  
Cuddy explains, "Its microwave and dishwasher safe."  
House says, "Thanks Charlie. It'll be my new coffee mug."

Lizzy places both her little hands on her father's face and asks, "Do you want to see Lizzy's gift?"  
"Do I have a choice?"  
Lizzy giggles and replies, "Stop being silly Daddy," as she hands him a gift bag.  
House takes a peek at the bag and pulls out a couple of the gift tissues.  
Anxiety appears in Lizzy's face as House pretends to look for the gift in the bag.  
As Lizzy looks over to her Mother for help, House quickly hides the present under the pillow.  
Cuddy reassures her daughter by saying, "Come on, tell Daddy to look inside the bag."  
House teases his daughter by giving her the empty gift bag.  
When Lizzy is in the brink of tears, House pulls out the gift and asks, "Is this your gift baby girl?"  
A smile of relief appears before Lizzy's face as she excitedly nods her head.  
As House rips the paper around the gift, it reveals a framed photo of Lizzy kissing her father. The picture was taken by Rachel Cuddy and it's one of Lisa's favorite. It perfectly captures how much Lizzy worships her father and how much House equally adores his daughter.  
House kisses his daughter on the forehead and says "thank you, baby girl."  
Lizzy kisses her father back and declares "I love you this much, Daddy" as she spread her hands wide.

***

_**Shortly After**_  
Ethan, Charlie, and Lizzy head down to the basement to wake up their big brother Jake. First they flood him with slobbering kisses, and then they greet him with a happy birthday song. The kiddies give their brother a "World's Greatest Big Brother" sweatshirt and force him to wear it around the house.

After breakfast, Cuddy informs everyone that she's throwing a dinner party that night in celebration of House and Jake's birthdays.  
House groans, "I hate parties. Don't I have a say on this?"  
"It'll just be a small get together with family and friends. Besides, Jakes is only 21 once and I want it to be special."  
"It's my birthday too, are you gonna make my birthday special too?" as he wiggles his brows.  
"Yes, actually thanks for reminding me." Cuddy clears her throat and announces, "In celebration of Daddy's 47th birthday, we will all be attending the Monster Truck show tomorrow night."  
House asks, "Seriously?"  
Cuddy smiles and replies, "Yes, I booked us hotel rooms in East Rutherford so we don't have to drive home after the show."  
House grins with delight while the twins give each other hi-fives.

***

_**10:30AM - PPTH Auditorium**_  
As House and Wilson are entering the auditorium, House spots Foreman seated next to Dr. Nepar from Pediatrics.  
He asks, "What's he doing here?"  
Wilson follows House's eyes and replies, "Foreman is acting chair for Neurology."  
"So, the rest of my original team is still around?"  
Wilson nods and replies, "Yeah, Cameron is still in the ER and I heard Chase is joining your team again."  
"What can I say, that Wombat just can't resist my charm."  
"It's either that or he's setting the ground work to ask the father of his son's girlfriend for her hand in marriage."  
"That's not funny."  
Wilson grins and replies, "I think it's funny that you're all work up about a 2-year-old kid."  
"I don't care how old wombat junior is. No one messes with my baby girl."  
Wilson laughs but quickly checks himself as he realizes that in a few years he'll be in the same boat as his friend. He asks, "Heard you're throwing a birthday party for Jake tonight."  
"Yeah, Lise wanted to make his 21st birthday memorable."  
"Oh, to be 21 again. How about you?"  
"What about me?"  
"What did you get for your birthday?"  
House grins and replies coyly, "The day is just beginning." He quickly adds "Lise got me tickets to the Monster Truck rally tomorrow night."  
"Cool! The boys must be very excited?"  
House nods and checks out his wife as Cuddy walks in to commence the PPTH Department Chairs meeting.

***

After the meeting, House is called upon to help solve a baffling case. Both father and son were so preoccupied with the case that they lost track of time. By six o'clock, Cuddy tries calling her husband but to no avail. She then proceeded to contact her son.  
"Oh hey, Mom," Jake answers his cell phone.  
House quickly looks at his watch and mumbles, "Shit!"  
Cuddy asks, "Is your Dad with you? He's not answering his cell."  
"Yeah, he's here Mom. He probably left his cell phone at home or in the car again."  
"Are you done with your case?"  
"The patient is stable. We'll just have to wait and see if the treatment works."  
"That's good to hear, Jake. Can I speak to your Dad?"  
"Sure Mom," Jake says as he hands the phone to his father.  
House answers, "Hey babe. Miss me already?"  
Cuddy smiles and replies, "Yes, stud. Can you bring home my boy now so we can start dinner?"  
House walks out to the balcony and asks, "It depends…will you be wearing the teddies that I got you?"  
"I'm definitely wearing something you like."  
"Hmmm…which one? The black barely there or the red lacy one?"  
"Well, you better hurry home so you can find out for yourself."

As House and Jake open the door from the garage to the kitchen, they are greeted by big hugs from Cuddy and the kids.  
Lizzy yells "Daddy, baby Becca is here!"  
House is kissing his wife as he mumbles, "Great! More Cuddy women!"  
Cuddy smacks her husband on the chest and whispers, "You better behave yourself tonight."  
House asks,"Why?" and quickly notices a roomful of reasons. He asks, "Whatever happened to the small intimate get together? They're your family."  
Cuddy corrects him, "They're our family."  
House rolls his eyes as he sees Wilson, Rachel, Baby Rebecca, Emma, Harry and Blythe waiting for him in the family room.  
Just as dinner is being served, the doorbell rings.  
House looks over to his wife and asks, "Who else did you invite?"  
But before Cuddy can answer, Jake replies, "It's Dr. Stevens. I told Oma that she should invite him over for dinner."  
If looks could kill, Jake must have died a thousand deaths with the way his father is looking at him.  
_**TBC**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note:**__ A very big thank you again to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__. You're the best!_

***

Cuddy quickly restrains her husband by gently touching his forearms and whispering, "Greg, please behave yourself tonight. This means so much to your Mom."  
House continues to glare at Jake and asks his son, "Are you sure you wanna mess with me, Mama's boy?"  
Jake smirks and smugly replies, "Who are you calling a Mama's boy? I'm not the one who has a problem dealing with my Mom dating."  
House raises his brow and answers, "If I were you, I'd better watch out."  
Jake counters, "I've got nothing to be scared of old man."  
"Is that right?"  
"Damn straight!"  
Cuddy warns her son, "Jake! Watch your language."  
Jake quickly apologizes, "Sorry, Mom."  
House taunts his son, "Mama's boy."  
Before Jake can reply, Cuddy asks her eldest son, "Honey, can you bring down the boy's table from the play room to the dining area?"  
Jake nods and replies, "Sure Mom."

In a low tone, Cuddy asks her husband,"Were you able to contact Jake's friends?"  
"Yeah."  
Cuddy skeptically looks at her husband and asks, "I didn't see anything in the club house. You promised you'd take care of the surprise party."  
"Well, there was a little change in the venue."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Instead of the club house, I booked them a couple of rooms at the Marriott."  
Cuddy sighs and replies, "I shouldn't have agreed for you to arrange Jake's surprise party."  
House argues, "Hey, your exact words were 'I want Jake to have a memorable 21st birthday.' The boy will not have a memorable anything if his mother is within 20 yards vicinity of his party."  
Cuddy mutters, "I know there will be alcohol in the party. If it's held nearby at least we can keep an eye on him."  
"Don't worry; I'll have someone to keep an eye on him."  
Cuddy raises his brows and asks, "Who?"  
Before House can answer, Blythe walks over with Dr. Stevens.  
Blythe nervously introduces Dr. Stevens, "Michael, you've met my son Gregory and his lovely wife, Lisa."  
Michael replies, "Of course. You both have a very lovely home, thank you for inviting me for dinner."  
House looks at Dr. Stevens and sarcastically replies, "Don't thank me; I had nothing to do with it. If it was up to me…"  
Cuddy quickly elbows her husband and clarifies, "What Greg means, we're happy that you can join us tonight."  
House argues, "That's not what I was going to say…"  
Blythe swiftly glares at her son while Cuddy starts squeezing her husband's arms. House getting both signals, promptly excuses himself by saying, "I'll need to get the kids' dinner ready."

As House puts the twins' plate on the table, Charlie asks "Daddy, when do we get to eat with everyone at the big people's table?"  
"When you're bigger."  
Charlie argues, "But we're big boys now. Mommy always takes me to nice restaurants and I know how to use all the different utensils."  
House smiles and replies, "Is that right? Did your Mom take you to an etiquette school or something?"  
Charlie nods and answers, "Yeah, I pass the test. That's why Mommy can take me to nice restaurants."  
Ethan asks, "Is that why you wear your suit when it's 'Mommy and Charlie' day?"  
Charlie nonchalantly smiles and replies, "Sometimes. Sometimes we go to other special places."  
Ethan asks his father, "Daddy, can I go to that school too so you can take me to nice restaurants?"  
House laughs and replies, "Fancy restaurants is a Mommy's thing, we have a different thing, right?"  
Ethan shrugs his shoulder and answer, "I guess."  
Lizzy asks, "How about me Daddy?"  
Ethan replies, "You have a Lizzy Day, remember?"  
"Oh yeah, I love Lizzy day. Do you like Lizzy day, Daddy?"  
As House nods, Charlie groans.

As House places Lizzy's plate on the table, Lizzy asks, "Daddy, who's that man with Oma?"  
"He's nobody."  
"What's that?"  
Ethan replies, "Nobody means we shouldn't pay him no mind."  
House looks at his second son and asks, "Who taught you that?"  
"Mr. Mike."  
"The janitor at the hospital?"  
Ethan nods his head and replies, "Yeah, one of the ladies in the hospital called Mommy a very bad word and Mr. Mike said that some people are just nobody. That I shouldn't pay them no mind 'cuz they're not worth the time of day. I don't know what that means but it sounded good."  
House smiles but before he can reply, Charlie asks, "He's old like Opa. Is he our new Opa?"  
House hastily says, "No! You only have one Opa."  
Ethan exclaims, "I miss Opa. He used to take us to the black stone wall (_Vietnam Memorial_) and to fields of white crosses (_Arlington Cemetery_). I liked it when he would tell us stories about flying planes."  
Charlie nods and adds "I liked it when he took us boating too."  
Lizzy asks, "Daddy, will Opa take me to those places too?"  
House shakes his head and replies, "Sorry baby girl, he's no longer with us."  
The girl curiously asks, "Can you tell him to come back? Yaya Lina comes back and visits me all the time."  
Ethan answers, "Remember when Bambi's Mommy got shot? Opa can't be with us anymore."  
"Did a hunter shot Opa too?"  
House smiles and replies, "Your Opa has been shot before but that's not the reason why he's not with us anymore. He… he got sick and he died."  
"But, you're the best doctor in the world Daddy. Why didn't you fix him?"  
"Remember, Daddy was sick too."  
Lizzy signals for her father to pick her up, afterwards she embraces him tightly and whispers, "I don't want you to get sick and die."  
House laughs and replies, "You and me both kid."  
"Lizzy wants Daddy to promise that he is not gonna die."  
"Daddy can't promise that princess. But Daddy promises to do his best, okay?"  
"Daddy, if you get sick can Lizzy kiss your booboo away?"  
House laughs, kisses his daughter and replies, "Sure, baby girl."

***

_**THE Dinner **_

Wilson asks Jake, "Got anything planned for tonight?"  
"Yeah, my friends are taking me out."  
Rachel asks, "Are you going bar hopping?"  
"Probably."  
Rachel supplies, "My friends and I went to 21 bars on my 21st birthday."  
Cuddy argues, "It's a school night, I doubt if his friends can stay out that late."  
House rolls his eyes and argues, "They're in college Lise. They find any excuse to party any day of the week."  
Jake asks Rachel, "Did you have a great time?"  
Rachel smiles and replies, "I honestly don't remember anything after the fifth bar."  
Jake asks around, "How did you guys celebrate your 21st birthdays?"  
Emma reminisces, "Your grandpa proposed to me on my 21st birthday," she looks over to her eldest grandson and adds, "he received his naval commission the day before and wanted to make sure that I married him before he get sent off to San Diego."  
Jake asks, "I never knew that Grandpa was in the Navy?"  
Emma explains, "your grandpa's family couldn't afford to send to him to college, but he was very smart and got accepted to Boston College on a naval ROTC scholarship."  
"Did the Navy pay for his medical school too?"  
Emma describes, "A week after he got his commission letter, he got another letter from the Navy. He won one of a handful of medical school scholarship slots available at that time. So, we stayed in Boston, got married and had your Mom."  
"So, Mom was born when grandpa was in med school?"  
Emma nods her head.  
House clears his throat and announces, "Don't give him any idea about proposing to his girlfriend on his 21st birthday."  
Within seconds Cuddy's face turns into shock and asks her son, "You're seeing someone?"  
Realizing that his Mom is noticeably hurt by the fact that he hasn't mentioned Lori to her, Jake downplays the relationship by answering, "Dad is just kidding, Mom."  
House smirks and teasingly asks his son, "Are you sure now?"  
Jake gives his father a pleading look and asks, "Daddy?"  
House smiles in victory and quickly changes the topic back by asking his mother, "How about you, Mom? How did you celebrate your 21st birthday?"  
Blythe replies, "I was at home taking care of you, Gregory. You were three years old at that time and I remember being scared because your father was getting ready for his first deployment to Vietnam."  
Shortly after, Harry recollects, "My 21st birthday was memorable to me because that's when I got my commission as a pilot in the R.A.F. I was definitely a happy lad that day."  
Meanwhile, Wilson mentions that he celebrated his 21st birthday with his college buddies and went drinking until the wee hours. He cheekily adds, "It wasn't a school night."  
Cuddy reveals that she celebrated her 21st birthday by driving home to Boston to spend the weekend with Jake. She informs her son, "You were a month shy of your second birthday and I remember worrying how to take off from school during finals week to throw you a birthday party."  
Cuddy's revelation hits House in the heart as he unconsciously rubs his hands behind Lisa's back.  
At this time, House has moved his chair closer to his wife.  
Cuddy asks Stevens, "How about you Michael? If my memory serves me right, you had a successful career outside of medicine."  
Stevens laughs and replies, "I'm what you may refer to as a late bloomer. I did not found my medical calling until I was in my forties."  
Jake asks, "So what did you do for your 21st birthday?"  
Stevens answers, "My Mum and Pop actually took me to Scotland for my 21st birthday. My Pop immigrated to Canada when he was in his twenties and always talked about the old country. He never could afford to go back home and when he could afford it he was too busy with the family business. My Mum thought my 21st birthday was a good excuse for the family to visit Scotland."  
House exclaims in a low tone, "So that's what is wrong with him. He's Canadian!"  
Cuddy discretely slaps her husband and softly says, "Stop it!"  
As Lizzy climbs up on Blythe's lap, Ethan sits on his Dad's lap; Charlie heads over to sit with his Mom.  
Charlie asks Stevens, "What's your name?"  
Michael smiles and replies "My name is Michael. What's your name?"  
Charlie replies, "It's a secret."  
Ethan adds, "We're not allowed to speak to strangers."  
Cuddy quickly tells her children, "He is not a stranger; Michael is your Oma's friend."  
Ethan raises his two fingers and explains, "I have two friends named Michael. Mr. Mike from the hospital and Mickey from our old school."  
Charlie announces, "Yeah, I broke Mickey's nose. Do you wanna see how I did it?"  
House smirks and replies, "Sure son."  
Cuddy yell, "House!"  
House innocently asks, "What?"  
But before Cuddy can answer, House's cell phone rings. After checking who the caller is, House gently slides Ethan off his lap and quickly walks towards the family room. He returns after a few minutes with a smug look on his face.  
While Jake thanks everyone for a lovely dinner, House whispers to Wilson, "I got Karamel for tonight's festivities!"  
_**TBC  
**_

_*******_

_Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button at the bottom of this page. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story ;-)_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**__ Special thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__ who continues to be a tremendous help in ensuring that I keep it real. You're the best!_

_***_

House whispers to Wilson, "I got Karamel for tonight's festivities!"  
Wilson did a double take and asks, "As in ice cream toppings or the stripper?"  
House looks at his friend incredulously and sarcastically asks, "Why would I care what type of dessert Lise is serving tonight?" He pause and quickly changes his mind, "On second thought, maybe I should care what type of dessert Lise is serving me tonight," as he wiggles his brows suggestively.  
Wilson asks in a low tone, "Seriously?"  
"About the dessert?"  
"No, about you getting Karamel for Jake's birthday."  
"Actually, I wanted to get Karamel for my birthday but I don't think Lise will like that."  
Wilson rolls his eyes and asks, "So, you got his friends to take him to a strip joint?"  
"Even Better. I booked the boys a couple suites at the Marriott."  
"Seriously?"  
"Yeah, seriously. Why?"  
"Your wife is going to kill you."  
"No, she won't. As far as she knows I'm facilitating a kickass party for my son."  
Wilson who is still in awe asks, "A stripper for a 21st birthday party?"  
"Hey, I got my son the best party my best friend's money can buy."  
"What? Why am I paying for this?"  
"Because you're an awesome Uncle."  
"Yeah, right!"  
"Don't worry, I'll pay you back."  
"No, you won't"  
"Yeah, you're right. So, what's the problem?"  
"I'm not worried about the money. I'm worried that Rach will see Karamel's services on the bill."  
In mock shock, House replies, "Woops…" and grins.

***

_**Later that night **_

_**Twins' room  
**_Ethan asks his brother, "What do they have in fancy restaurants?"  
Charlie replies, "Stuff."  
"Like what kind of stuff?"  
"Hmmm…food that looks good and taste yummy."  
"Do they have pictures of the food?"  
"No, they have a menu and it doesn't have pictures. But Mommy reads them to me and then I pick what I like."  
"Oh, do they have mac and cheese?"  
"Nope. They always have food with funny names but Mommy always knows what's in it."  
"Why do you like going to fancy restaurants when they don't even have mac and cheese?"  
"I like being a big boy and trying big people's food."  
After pausing for a minute, Ethan declares, "I like helping Daddy cook stuff. I think its fun when we mix different things and it's yummy."  
"That's too much work. I just like eating them."  
The two start laughing until they hear their Dad yelling, "Lights out boys."

***

_**House and Cuddy's room  
**_House strips down to his birthday suit and eagerly awaits his 'present' from his wife.  
"Come on, Lise. Let's get this show started!"  
Cuddy comes out wearing a sexy pink lingerie teddy with mesh lace and ruffle trim. House immediately grins while Cuddy seductively asks, "Why? Do you have some place you'd rather be, Dr. House?  
House shakes his head and is left speechless by the sight of his wife.  
Cuddy tries to control herself from laughing as her husband starts fumbling to lift the comforter.  
It never ceases to amaze Cuddy that after all these years; she still has this affect on her husband.  
Cuddy asks, "Do you need help there, stud?"  
House realizing that his coolness factor just went down the drain, swiftly grabs his wife and kisses her passionately.

After a couple of rounds of fervent lovemaking, the two lay in bed totally exhausted and sated.  
Cuddy starts playing with her husband's hair and asks, "What do you think of Stevens?"  
House groans, "Way to kill a moment, Lise."  
Cuddy smiles and gently rubs her husband's forearms, "Come on, Mr. Happy needs a break."  
"I can multi-task while Mr. Happy goes on a break."  
Cuddy laughs and replies, "I'm sure you can." Few seconds after, she adds, "I'm serious Greg, are you okay with your Mom dating again?"  
"Sure."  
"I know that this must be tough on you."  
"Why would it be?"  
"Because you never really got the chance to say goodbye to your Dad."  
House sarcastically replies, "Lucky for me, huh?"  
"I know you two had issues, but it can't be all bad. I'm sure there were also good times."  
After a long silence, House replies, "Yeah, I guess."  
Cuddy smiles and asks, "Do you wanna talk about it?"  
"Do I have to?"  
"Not to me, you don't. But talk to Nolan about it, just so you'll get closure."  
House mumbles, "Closure is overrated."  
"I just want you to try. Maybe it will…"  
"It'll what?"  
"It'll help you move on."  
After another long silence, House asks, "She was married to him for almost fifty years. How can she move on just like that?"  
Cuddy smiles as her husband shares his thought and replies, "She gave up her life and dreams for you and your Dad for fifty years. It's now her time to live for herself. Do you know that your Mom is taking classes at the university?"  
A surprised House asks, "She is? What classes? Why?"  
Cuddy nods and replies, "She's taking some art and history courses. It's something that she has always wanted to do and she's now pursuing it."  
House raises his eyebrows and exclaims, "Speaking of art…" as he reaches for the side table and pulls out a box of edible body paint.

***

_**The following day  
**_Wilson is getting ready for work when his cell phone rings. He quickly answers it so as not to wake his baby daughter.  
"Are you finished blow drying your hair yet?"  
"House? It's seventy-thirty in the morning."  
"I know what time it is, you idiot!"  
"Well, good morning to you too."  
"What were you thinking telling your wife that I hired a stripper for my son's birthday?"  
"I believe that's what you told me. Why?"  
"Whatever happened to bros before hoes?"  
"It doesn't apply to our spouses."  
"Obviously. Since your wife immediately tattled to her sister."  
Wilson replies, "Woops…"  
House grins as he realizes that his friend just dished him his payback.  
Wilson asks, "So, what do you want me to do?"  
"Get your ass out 'cause you're coming with me."  
"Why? Wait a minute, are you outside my house?"  
"Yeah, I'm in your driveway."  
After saying goodbye to his wife and daughter, Wilson asks, "Where exactly are we going?"  
"To the Marriott hotel to assess the damage."

As House and Wilson enter the room, they see about a half dozen guys and gals sleeping on the sofa and the floor. House recognized most of them—they are the regular kids that often visit their home when Jake is in town and there are some that Jake hangs out with at the hospital.  
Wilson smiles and comments, "Looks like it was a great party." He does a double take and asks, "Is that who I think it is?"  
House follows Wilson's eye and sees a half-naked woman on top of a snoring Kutner.  
House smirks and quickly grabs his iPhone to take a snapshot of the two.  
Wilson asks, "You got an iPhone?"  
House shrugs his shoulder and replies, "Yeah, it's one of Lise's birthday presents. I could have gotten more gifts this morning if your wife hadn't called."  
Wilson rolls his eyes and sarcastically replies, "I could have been at work by now, but here I am spying on the aftermath of your son's party."

House walks over towards the other room and sees a couple more people sleeping on the floor. He looks over to the bed and sees his son lying between two ladies. He grins and quickly takes more pictures. The three are fully clothed so House thinks of messing with them by putting them in a more compromising position. He is quickly joined by Wilson who asks in a low tone, "What are you doing?"  
"What do you think I'm doing?"  
Wilson simply rolls his eyes as House continues taking pictures.  
Afterwards, House picks up the empty pizza box and chicken bucket from the floor and sets them by the table. He gently kicks one of the mammoth guys sleeping on the floor by the bed.  
Jason wakes up to see both doctors and groggily say, "Hey."  
House nods but quickly walks back to the other room, while Wilson follows suit.  
House opens the fridge and Wilson asks, "What exactly are you looking for?"  
House replies, "Just checking what types of drinks they had. Want some Frappuccino?"  
"Sure, why not."  
House hands Wilson a bottle and grabs one for himself and exits the room.  
A confused Wilson asks, "That's it?"  
"Yup! I've seen enough."  
"What exactly were you looking for?"  
House shrugs his shoulder, "That they had food with their alcohol; that there were no drugs in the vicinity, and my boy is a stud like his father."  
Wilson nods and asks, "Didn't you trust Jake to do the right thing?"  
House smiles and replies, "Trust but verify."

Shortly after, Jason joins them in the hallway.  
After exchanging pleasantries, House asks, "How was last night's entertainment?"  
Jason grins and replies "It was excellent Dr. H. The blonde was really hot, but the brunette can really shake it."  
Wilson asks in shock, "You got Jake two strippers?"  
House explains, "They had a special, two for the price of one," as he nods for Jason to continue.  
The young man informs them that after hitting a couple of bars, the guys arrived at the hotel around eleven where the rest of the group was waiting to surprise Jake. "He was blown away! Drs. Kutner, Foreman and Chase really stocked up the joint with lots of food and drinks."  
House asks, "How much did Jake drinks?"  
"He had a few. He kept singing the SpongeBob Square Pants song."  
House grins and asks Jason, "You got video?"  
"No, why?"  
"Nothing." House thanks Jason for keeping an eye on his son and leaves.

As they drive back to work, Wilson still couldn't get over the fact that House got two strippers for Jake.  
"You only got me one for my bachelor's party."  
"Yeah? But you got married more than once."  
Wilson shrugs his shoulder and notices that House is heading the opposite direction of the hospital. "Hey, the hospital is that way."  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just wanna pick up some croissants for Lise."  
Wilson exclaims, "I could definitely use a coffee and croissant from _The Little Chef Bakery_ this morning."  
House boasts, "Lise needs an extra boost this morning. She was a naughty little minx for Daddy last night."  
Wilson groans and replies, "As Jake puts it: T.M.I.!!!"  
House teases, "I know you're dying to know what I did with the edible body paint."  
"No House, I don't want to know."  
As House continues rambling on, Wilson quickly turns the radio up in an effort to tune his friend out.  
All House can do is laugh at Wilson's reactions.

***

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button. Let me know what you like or dislike about my little Huddy universe._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note #1:**__Special Thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__, you're the best!_

_**  
**_***

House turns the radio volume down and asks Wilson, "Did you have a little chat with my son?"  
"Which one?"  
House rolls his eyes and replies, "My eldest son, Jake!"  
"About what?"  
"Girls and stuff."  
Wilson grins and replies, "I swear I didn't tell him that babies come from storks."  
"He's a doctor. I think he knows where babies come from. I'm referring to your compulsion to marry every girl you date."  
"Oh, that topic."  
"And?"  
Wilson hesitantly replies, "He wanted some lessons learned to avoid my mistakes."  
House raises his eyebrows and groans, "Jeez… come on Wilson just spit it out."  
"Hold your horses."  
"Stop being such a girl!"  
Wilson rolls his eyes and explains, "I told Jake that I never regretted asking my wives to marry me. I loved each and every one of them at various moments in my life. It's the stuff after the wedding that I regretted."  
"Did you tell him that you married them because you thought it was the expected thing to do?"  
Wilson shrugs his shoulder and asks, "Is he seriously seeing someone?"  
"He's feeling the pressure from his girlfriend to pop the question."  
"And you think sending him to me is a good idea?"  
"Why not? You're a great cautionary tale."  
"Thanks a lot!"  
House smiles and adds, "I think it works too."  
"What makes you say that?"  
"Didn't you see him sleeping in between those two hot chicks?"  
"Yeah, but they were all drunk."  
"True. But if he's really hot for his girlfriend, he won't even give those girls the time of day."  
"Your eyes still wander even if you're with the love of your life."  
House grins and replies, "My eyes might wander but my hands are always under Lise's skirt."

_***_

_**June 12, 2009, Friday 8:30AM  
**_House barges into Cuddy's office and asks suggestively, "Want some morning delight?"  
Cuddy glares at her husband and replies, "Sure, if it means I can bludgeon you to pieces."  
"Hey, what's with the threat of violence? I come bearing gifts," as he sets the bag with a croissant and a coffee on her desk.  
Cuddy tries her best to hide her smile as she sees the logo on the bag. She says, "Thank you, but I'm still mad at you."  
"You can't stay mad at me, it's my birthday weekend."  
Cuddy simply rolls her eyes and reaches for the croissant.  
"Come on Lise, Jake is only 21 once."  
"You don't know what happens at these parties? What if someone slipped something in his drink?"  
"Nobody slipped anything in his drink. Your boy is safely sound asleep back at the hotel. The worst thing that will happen to him is he'll wake up with a hangover from hell but he'll survive."  
"How do you know?"  
"The snitch and I went over to the hotel and checked up on him."  
"If not for Wilson telling Rachel, you wouldn't even have told me about the stripper."  
"That's not true. I would have told you after the party."  
"Of course."  
"By the way, it's strippers with an 's'."  
"What?" Cuddy shakes her head in disbelief and reluctantly asks, "Please don't tell me you got him hookers too?"  
House smiles and replies "No, the hookers wouldn't take Wilson's credit card."  
"House! You need to stop charging things to Wilson's card."  
"Why?"  
"Because, he now has a family to support. Not to mention, a couple of alimonies that he's still paying."  
"But he likes paying for stuff, makes him feel needed. It feeds into his hero complex. "  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and announces, "Reimburse Wilson or I'll ask Rachel to send me the bill."  
House mutters, "I'll take care of it."  
Cuddy eyes him suspiciously and replies, "And you'll definitely not be in charge of the twins' 21st birthday!"  
House laughs and retorts, "I'll be happy if I'm still alive when that time comes."

_**11:45AM**_  
After their board meeting, Cuddy walks Wilson back to his office.  
Cuddy asks, "Are you sure you'll be okay covering for me this afternoon?"  
"Definitely. Just have fun with the kids; especially the big kid."  
"I know what you mean. Speaking of the big kid, wanna join us for lunch."  
"I'll have to take a rain check. I need to finish some paperwork that's due today."  
"Okay. Thanks again Wilson."  
Cuddy walks over to her husband's office and sees House busy writing something.  
Cuddy greets him, "Hey."  
House looks up, takes off his glasses and nods at his wife.  
"You wanna grab a bite before we pick up the boys?"  
House shrugs his shoulder and replies, "It depends. Do I get a little afternoon delight too?"  
Cuddy walks closer, gives her husband a kiss on the lips and replies, "Sorry stud. We need to pick up our daughter at the day care before lunch."  
House checks his watch and asks, "Not even a little quickie in the janitor's closet? We have at least fifteen-minutes."  
Cuddy smiles and answers, "As irresistible as that offer is, I think I'll pass."  
"I just saw this new trick from my favorite porn site, are you sure you don't wanna try it?"  
"How about showing your wife this neat trick about being a good husband by picking up your daughter?"  
"But, that's no fun!"  
Cuddy leans over, kisses her husband again and seductively whispers, "I'll make it worth your while."  
House grins and slips his hand under Cuddy's skirt.  
"Greg, stop it."  
"Your mouth says no but your legs say yes."  
While House continues kissing Cuddy, her phone rings. She takes a look at the caller ID and informs her husband, "It's Jake."

***

As House is buckling up his daughter in the backseat of the van, he asks Cuddy, "What did spawn #1 wants?"  
Cuddy replies, "He was just telling me that Lina dropped off some food for us."  
Lizzy interrupts, "Mommy, did yaya made me some crunchy?"  
"Yes, she did. She also made several of your Daddy's and Jake's favorite dishes."  
House exclaims, "Oh cool. I guess we can have lunch at home."  
Cuddy agrees, "Great idea! Then I can finish packing for the kids."  
House asks his daughter, "Are you excited to watch your first Monster Truck rally?"  
Lizzy nods her head and claps her tiny little hands.  
House excitedly informs Lizzy, "You'll get to see the Grave Digger crush all those cars in person."  
The little girl furrows her brows and asks, "Daddy, Lizzy can have pink (_cotton_) candy and popcorn right?"  
House smiles and replies, "Sure, honey."

***

While eating lunch, Cuddy asks House and Jake, "Are you guys up for spending quality time with the kiddies tomorrow?"  
House raises his eyebrows and asks, "What exactly do you have in mind?"  
"Charlie was just telling me the other day how he missed 'Mommy & Charlie day' and it just got me thinking that we should do their special day this weekend."  
Jake jokingly asks, "Do I get a special day with Mommy & Daddy too?"  
House puts his arm around Jake and exclaims, "I think that's a great idea son! I haven't been to a strip joint since…" He stopped mid-sentence after receiving a death glare from his wife.  
Cuddy continues, "Well, I was hoping that you would spend time with Lizzy."  
Jake hesitantly asks, "Like alone with her all day?"  
Cuddy nods and replies, "Charlie and I do our thing; your Dad and Ethan do their thing. You can do your special thing with Lizzy. You can either take her out to the mall or just stay home with her."  
All of a sudden Jake's hangover headache just multiplied, as he sees vision of tea parties, an American Idol marathon and Lizzy singing his ears off.  
House can't help but smile at the transparent expression of horror in his eldest son's face. He asks his wife, "Which boring establishment are you planning on taking Charlie to?"  
Cuddy simply rolls her eyes and replies, "I'm taking him to the dinosaur exhibit at the Liberty Science Center."  
Jake nods and asks his father, "Where do you normally take Ethan?"  
House takes a minute to search his memory and a sobering thought occurs to him. He took a deep breath and in a regretful tone replies, "I took him to the monster track rally once. But we normally just stayed home and watched the Discovery channel."  
Realizing that he had brought up a sensitive subject, Jake quickly apologizes, "I'm sorry Dad, I didn't ..."  
House stands up, pats his son on the shoulder and tells him, "Don't. Don't apologize." He quickly walks towards the bedroom and mumbles, "I need to start packing."  
Cuddy follows her husband to their bedroom and asks, "Are you okay?"  
House shrugs his shoulder and replies, "Fine. I'm just packing for tonight."  
Cuddy sits by the bed and looks at her husband intently.  
After about a minute, House sighs out loud and asks, "Are you just gonna stare at me while I pack?"  
"Yeah, until you tell me what's bothering you."  
House irritably answers, "Nothing! Can't I pack in silence without you thinking that something is bothering me?"  
Cuddy is surprised by her husband's outburst and quickly replies, "You promised not to do this."  
"What exactly am I doing?"  
"Shutting me out again. We're in this together, and you need to let me know if something is bothering you so we can handle it together. "  
House realizing that his wife is now pretty riled up, quickly apologizes "I'm…I'm sorry Lise. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just furious at myself."  
"Why?"  
House takes a deep breath and sits next to his wife and mumbles, "I just remembered what a lousy father I am to Ethan."  
Cuddy smiles and gently rubs her husband's forearms, "Greg, Ethan enjoys your special days together. Whether you're just watching TV or playing the piano with him. He cherishes it and talks about it as if you've personally taken him on these adventures."  
"He deserves better. Our children deserve a better father. You deserve a better husband. Maybe, Dad was right…"  
"Don't you dare finish that sentence! I don't know of any father who's more devoted and attentive to his children than you are."  
"I could have taken them to more places…"  
"You did. How many five year olds do you know spent a summer on a cross country trip on a bus?"  
House nods but continues to look down at his lap.  
Cuddy cups her husband's face and says, "Greg, our children adore you and they love you unconditionally whether you have two good legs or just one. You know why?"  
"Because, I'm their Dad."  
"Yes! You're a wonderful Dad and I couldn't ask for a better husband."  
"You mean that?"  
"Greg, it simply breaks my heart when I hear you doubt yourself. What can I do to prove to you that you're all the man that I need? You complete me and I consider myself the luckiest woman in the world to have you as a partner in life."  
House kisses Cuddy on the lips and replies "Thank you Lise. I don't know what I've done to deserve you and the kids but I'm very thankful. I love you very much."  
"I love you too. And Greg?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Put that school girl outfit back in my drawer, I'm not stripping for you tonight."  
_**TBC**_

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Please continue clicking the "Review this story/chapter" button. I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate, or even reading this story :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Special Thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__, for continuing to do such an awesome job editing this fic._

***

"Put that school girl outfit back in my drawer, I'm not stripping for you tonight."  
"But, it's my birthday weekend?"  
Cuddy nods sympathetically and offers, "I promise to be yours tomorrow night."  
House looks at his wife incredulously and asks, "Are you serious?"  
"Sorry, but the twins are bunking with Jake so, Lizzy has to sleep with us."  
"On our bed?"  
"Yeah, or we can bring in her inflatable mattress. I think she'll like that."  
House wags his brows and adds, "I like that idea too."  
Cuddy smiles and whispers "Greg, there will be no shenanigans tonight."  
"Come on? Lizzy is a heavy sleeper, she won't even know what we're doing."  
"But the boys will be next door. I don't want to disturb them too."  
"They'll be too exhausted from the monster truck rally to be disturbed by anything."  
"I might be too tired as well."  
House pouts for a minute and announces, "You're so wearing that school girl outfit for me tomorrow night."

_***_

_**5:30PM  
**_As House and Jake unload all the luggage from the car, House asks, "How's the headache?"  
"Much better now that I don't have the twins talking my ears off. I didn't even know that they could be that loud and talkative."  
House grins and asks, "Is that right?"  
"Yeah, it's almost like they were doing it on purpose."  
"You should have told them to stop."  
"I did, but somehow they're getting secret encouragement from someone."  
"Really?"  
"Could it be that someone promised them a Grave Digger RC truck?"  
House smiles upon realizing that Jake just busted his scheme. He quickly changes the topic by asking, "When are you flying back to Baltimore?"  
"Monday Morning. I won't be on duty until the afternoon."  
"Still planning to pop the question to your girlfriend?"  
Jake shrugs his shoulder and nonchalantly replies, "Nope."  
"Seriously?"  
Jake nods and smiles.  
"Did Karamel change your mind?"  
"Karamel? The stripper?"  
"Yeah! Wasn't she hot or what?"  
"How would you know? Wait. You got me the strippers for my party?"  
House rolls his eyes and replies, "No, your buddies paid for the hotel and the strippers."  
"Seriously? You organized the whole thing?"  
"Uh-huh. Where's your manners?"  
"Uh… thanks, I think. Does Mom know about the…?"  
House nods and adds, "But not until after the party. Wilson snitched on me."  
Jake shakes his head and smiles after digesting what his father had just revealed. He asks, "Why strippers?"  
"Would you preferred if I had gotten you a hooker instead?"  
"No! I mean…don't people get strippers during bachelor's party?"  
"I just thought I'd do something different that you and your friends would enjoy. Didn't you enjoy it?"  
"Sure Dad. I think a great time was had by all."  
Sensing the hesitation in his son's response, House asks, "So, what's the problem?"  
In a serious tone Jake asks his father, "Was the party your unique way of showing me what I'll be missing if I take the plunge early?"  
"Was it?"  
"But, I asked first."  
House smirks and replies, "It doesn't matter."  
"It does matter. I appreciate the sort of fatherly advice."  
"No problem. Glad to be of help."  
"Dad?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I really needed that."  
"You mean the strippers?"  
"No, the advice. The distraction helps put everything in perspective. I'm not ready for responsibilities, and now that I'm 21 I want to enjoy what's out there."  
House smirks and replies, "I don't care what your Mom says, we're so doing a Daddy and Jake night out!"

_***_

The entire House clan is decked out with their _**Grave Digger **_apparel. The boys are all wearing their _**Digger**_ shirts and caps, while Cuddy and Lizzy are wearing their matching pink _**Digger**_ skull shirt that House ordered for this special occasion.  
While all the boys are pumped up about the show, Cuddy spends much of the night entertaining Lizzy by the concession stand. Both mother and daughter are just too happy to stay away from the loud noise and the smell of car exhaust. It also keeps them at a safe distance away from unhappy _**Big Foot**_ fans that are not so pleased by all the trash talking that House has been doing. Somehow, within the span of two hours House has appointed himself leader of the merry bunch of _**Grave **__**Digger**_ fans.

By 9:30 PM, Cuddy returns to her courtside seat carrying a sleeping Lizzy in her arms.  
House asks, "You want me to carry her?"  
"I'm fine. Just make sure that you don't forget all those toys that you guys bought."  
Jake answers, "I got the bags, Dad."  
House nods in acknowledgment.  
Charlie asks, "Mommy, can I play with my new toy now?"  
Cuddy replies, "No honey, let's open them when we get back to the hotel."  
Charlie pouts and Cuddy quickly explains, "You don't want to drop and lose your new car."  
Charlie exasperatedly explains "Moooom! It's not a car; it's a **Grave Digger** Colossal Crusher Monster Truck!"  
Cuddy smiles and replies, "Of course hon, Mommy's fault." Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Ethan standing on his chair. She is about to yell when Ethan motions for his father to come closer so he can give him a hug.  
As House leans down, Ethan exclaims, "Thank you Daddy. This is the best outing ever!"  
"Better than the last time we went to a Monster Track rally?"  
Ethan nods vigorously and supplies, "Because Mommy, Jake, Charlie, and Lizzy are with us. I like it when we're all together."  
House smiles and replies, "Me too, son. Me too."  
Cuddy quickly melts in a puddle of goo after witnessing the exchange between her husband and her son.  
She points to Ethan and asks Charlie, "Does Mommy get a hug too?"  
Charlie smirks and quickly stands up on his chair to give his Mom a hug. He whispers, "I love you Mommy but I really, really need to go pee."  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and asks Jake, "Hon, can you take Charlie to the bathroom?"

_***_

_**Two days after…  
**_**Daddy and Ethan Day  
**After informing his son that he'll be spending the rest of the day with him, Ethan is simply beside himself. Ethan quickly runs off to his room and rummages through his closet. He comes down with the Discovery Channel's Planet Earth blu-ray disc set and hands it to his father.  
Ethan explains, "Nana gave it to me on my birthday. I kept it so you can watch it with me."  
House smiles and replies "Looks good E. We should definitely watch it tomorrow."  
A disappointed Ethan mumbles, "Oh, okay."  
"I think we should go out today…" but before House can complete his sentence.  
Ethan yells, "Okay, I'll go get my gear," and is off running again.  
A few minutes later, Ethan comes back wearing a very tight "Daddy's Little Buddy" t-shirt and a backpack.  
House couldn't help but smile recognizing the t-shirt that he has gotten his son two years ago when he took him camping in the backyard.  
House asks, "What do you have in your backpack?"  
"Stuff you gave me, Daddy" as Ethan excitedly pulls out a wooden box. The box originally belonged to House when he was a little boy; it even has the name Gregory etched on the lid. House had found it a few months ago while helping clean his parent's attic. Ethan opens the lid of the box and reveals a magnifying glass, a compass and a photo, it's of House and Ethan at their first Monster Truck Rally 2 years ago.  
"Are we going to look for butterflies or ant hill outside, Daddy?"  
"Not today. How about if we go ride some dodgem cars?"  
Ethan's face lights up and replies, "Cool."  
"Do you know what a dodgem car is?"  
The boy shakes his head and replies, "No, but it sounds fun Daddy."  
"Yes it is. A dodgem car is a small electric car with a wide rubber strip all round it. It's sometimes called a bumper car since you can bump other cars around you."

"But it's not nice to bump others Daddy."  
"Don't worry, it's just for fun. You don't have to bump other cars if you don't want to."  
"Oh okay. Daddy?"  
"Yes, E?"  
"I don't know how to drive Daddy."  
"Don't worry, Daddy will teach you."  
"Okay. Thank you Daddy."  
"But before we leave, I need you to change your shirt."  
"Why? You gave me this shirt, Daddy."  
"I know. But you've grown so much since Daddy gave you that shirt. I need you to wear a comfortable shirt so you can help Daddy drive, okay?"  
"Oh okay. Can I wear my Grave Digger shirt Daddy?"  
"Sure."  
_**TBC**_

***

_As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note:**__ A big thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile**__ who is not only awesome, but super fast. _

_***_

As Ethan runs to change his shirt, House heads over to Lizzy's room to say goodbye.  
House can't help but reach for his iPhone as he sees his eldest son all decked up for a tea party with his baby sister. Jake sits across from Lizzy wearing a tiara on his head, a feathery boa on his neck and a tutu-like contraption on his lap.  
House exclaims, "I really like that new look," as he snaps a picture.  
Jake quickly glares at his father and replies, "Not funny Dad."  
House snaps another picture and says, "Are you kidding me? This will be worth something someday."  
Before Jake can argue, Lizzy excitedly greets her father and asks "Wanna join Lizzy's tea party?"  
House grins and asks, "But there's no room for me at the table?"  
Jake offers his seat but is quickly told, "Silly Jake. Daddy can seat with Mr. Teddy Bear."  
Jake asks Lizzy, "Doesn't Daddy need to wear a tiara and boa too?"  
Lizzy excitedly replies, "Ok, I'll go look for one."  
As Jake grins at his father, House reminds his daughter, "Hon, remember Ethan and I are going out?"  
Lizzy begs, "Can you stay for a teeny weeny time?"  
House nods as his daughter uses her pouty look on him.  
Shortly after, they hear Ethan yelling "Daddy, where are you?"  
Jake yell back, "We're in Lizzy's room."  
As Ethan enters the room, Jake asks, "Where are you going today?"  
Ethan excitedly replies, "Daddy and I are going out to ride dodgem cars!"  
Jake asks, "You are? Can I come?"  
Lizzy quickly stands up, in a dramatic fashion that only a Huddy kid could get away with give her eldest brother the pouty look and asks, "You don't wanna play with me?"  
Jake guiltily replies, "Of course I love to play with you. I was just being silly."  
Lizzy smiles and gives her eldest brother a hug and declares, "Lizzy loves you Jake." She looks over to her father and Ethan and sweetly instructs, "Daddy, sit with Mr. Teddy Bear and Ethan, sit with Dino over there."  
House can't help but smile as Lizzy's 'won't take no for an answer' demeanor reminds him so much of his wife. As he walks over to sit on the table, Ethan worriedly asks, "Daddy? I thought you said…"  
House puts his arm around Ethan and whispers, "Just for a few minutes. We can't have your sister cry or we'll never be able to leave."  
Ethan nods his head in understanding.  
As House tries to fit his 6' 2" frame on the tiny toddler's chair, he grabs his iPhone again and continues snapping pictures of his kids.

***

**Mommy and Charlie Day  
**Cuddy's day begins at around seven o'clock when an ER attending tries contacting her at home. Unfortunately for the attendant, House is sleeping in Cuddy's side of the bed where the phone is located. House initially slams the phone and when the attendant tries calling again he gives him an earful until Cuddy grabs the phone away from her husband. After hanging up the phone, Cuddy informs House, "I need go to the hospital for an hour or two."  
"No, you're not. You promised to take Charlie out today, remember?"  
"I know. I'll be real quick."  
"What's more important than spending a lazy Sunday morning with your awesome husband in bed?"  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and sarcastically replies, "You mean that same husband who just hung-up on then yelled expletives to one of my doctors?"  
House sleepily smiles and argues, "Not my fault. You know how grumpy I get when I'm disturbed from my sleep this early and on my day off too."  
"I know. Why did you end up on my side of the bed anyway?"  
"Hmmm…do you want a repeat performance of last night so I can jog your memory?"  
Cuddy smiles as she remembers what had happened. But she quickly pushes the thought aside and asks "Greg, can you watch over the kids for a few hours? I promise I'll be back before lunch."  
House shakes his head and in a serious tone, "We had a deal. Family trumps work all the time. It's Charlie's special day with you. If you really have to go to the hospital, take him with you."  
"You're right. I'll go take a shower. Will you at least help me get Charlie ready?"  
"What do I get in exchange?"  
Cuddy raises her brows and asks, "Did you like my performance last night?"  
"Hell yeah! Am I getting an encore?"  
Cuddy seductively replies, "Let's just say, you'll never ever get to see me in that outfit again if you don't get Charlie ready in half an hour."  
House smiles and exclaims, "You are one evil cunning woman. It's a massive turn on." 

By 8:30 AM, Cuddy strides into PPTH's lobby with Charlie in tow.  
As they enter Cuddy's office, she apologetically tells her son, "Mommy will need to speak to a few people then we can leave, okay?"  
Charlie simply nods and heads straight to the sofa.  
While Cuddy is on the phone with Dr. Cameron, Charlie plays with his new _**Grave Digger**_ truck.  
A few minutes after, Charlie walks over to his Mom's desk and announces, "I'm bored. Are we leaving yet?"  
Cuddy can't help but smile as Charlie reminds him so much of her husband. While the twins are identical in physical appearance they are nothing alike in all other ways. Ethan is sweet and sensitive; very much like his eldest brother, Jake. Meanwhile, Charlie is naughty but funny. He never fails to illicit laughter from his mother while doing or saying the darndest things.  
Cuddy assures her son, "I know honey. I just need to talk to Drs. Cameron and Gordon, write an incident report and we're leaving."  
"Okay, so where are we going today?"  
"It's a surprise?"  
"Hmmm… can I guess?"  
"Sure honey."  
"Well, I'm not wearing my big boy suite so; we're not going to a fancy restaurant."  
Cuddy smiles "I think that's not a hint, that's more because your Daddy dressed you."  
"Okay, we're going to a fancy restaurant?"  
"Hmmm…not so fancy but we'll eat at a nice place."  
"Are we driving to New York to watch a show?"  
"Not this time. We're remaining in the state and we'll go somewhere you'll enjoy."  
Charlie thinks for awhile and yells, "Are we going to a Monster Truck rally again?"  
"Oh, no."  
"Are we going to the horse race?"  
Cuddy can't help by shake her head as she thinks to herself, "Charlie you're definitely your father's son."  
"Are you getting me a puppy?"  
"What? No, didn't your Dad already tell you that we're not getting a dog until you guys are bigger."  
"How big?"  
"When you and Ethan are old enough to take the dog out for a walk."  
But before Charlie can argue, someone knocks on the door.  
Shortly after, Dr. Cameron and Dr. Gordon (_the ER attendant_) enters the office.  
Cameron quickly apologizes, "I'm so sorry again for interrupting your Sunday Dr. Cuddy." She looks over to the young boy and says, "Hi," and asks, "Are you Ethan or Charlie?"  
Cuddy quickly introduces her son, "This is Charlie. Charlie, do you remember Dr. Cameron? She used to work for your Dad."  
Charlie nods and answers, "You're Aidan's Mom."  
"Yes, I am. Oh man, you have grown so tall since I last saw you."  
Cuddy continues, "And this is Dr. Gordon."  
Charlie nods and says, "You're the idiot that woke my Daddy this morning."  
Cuddy yells, "Charlie! I'm so sorry Dr. Gordon."  
Dr. Gordon turns red in embarrassment as Cameron tries to hide her laughter.

Cuddy quickly pulls her son to the bathroom and admonishes, "Charlie, you know better than to say that to Dr. Gordon."  
Charlie shrugs his shoulder and replies, "But it's true. Daddy said a monkey makes better decisions than him."  
Like always, Cuddy is torn on whether to get mad or hug her little kryptonite. She tries hard to hide her smile and tells Charlie, "I will deal with your father later, but now I want you to apologize to Dr. Gordon."  
"But I told the truth Mommy. You and Daddy always say that I shouldn't lie."  
"I know honey. But we have to be very careful with what we say so we don't hurt people."  
Charlie furrows his brow and asks, "I don't understand Mommy."  
"Do you remember when you used to get mad when your friends called your Daddy a cripple?"  
"They're not my friends and they were just being mean."  
"That's why I need you to be careful with what you say. Although it may be true, they may consider it mean and hurtful."  
Charlie nods and tells his Mom, "Okay, I'll say I'm sorry. Mom?"  
"Yeah hon?  
"Daddy doesn't need a cane. No one will call him that word anymore."  
"I know hon."  
_**TBC**_

***

_As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note:**__ Special thanks to my wonderful beta, __**i luv ewansmile.**__ You never cease to amaze me!_

_***_

"Daddy doesn't need a cane. No one will call him that word anymore."  
"I know hon."  
Cuddy gives her son a hug and tells him, "You know that Daddy and I love you very much."  
Charlie nods his head and asks, "Mommy, am I still in trouble?"  
"I'm giving you amnesty. Now, say your apologies to Dr. Gordon so we can leave."  
"What's an amnesty?"  
"Because today is your special day, I'm letting you get away without timeout."  
"Thank you. Oh, Mommy?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do I get amnesty just for this one or for everything I did this morning?"  
"Oy vey! What did you do this morning Charles Philip House?"  
Charlie shrugs his shoulder and grins, "Daddy made me do it."  
"What did your father make you do?"  
"I called a girl and asked her not to take my Daddy away. That I missed him so much and that he should stay in Princeton to take care of me and my sister."  
"Who's the girl?"  
"I don't know, Lola something? Daddy said she is Jake's girlfriend."  
"So, your father made you pretend that you are Jake's son."  
Charlie nods his head and supplies, "Lizzy played my sister."  
"And Ethan?"  
The little boy shakes his head and replies, "He chickened out. He was very worried that Jake will get mad at him."  
"You weren't worried?"  
Charlie giggles and answers, "Nope. Daddy said not to worry so, I don't. It was really funny Mommy because the Lola girl couldn't say anything because Lizzy wouldn't stop singing."  
Cuddy couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew that her husband was up to something when she caught him snooping around Jake's bedroom. Come to think of it, House was the one who insisted that Jake babysit Lizzy instead of asking Blythe. Cuddy makes a mental note to ask her husband more about his new fascination with their eldest son's love life.

***

Both mother and son finally leave PPTH around nine-thirty and they head straight to the Liberty Science Center. Cuddy always makes it a point to bring Charlie to educational venues that stimulates his curious mind. They've been to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, the Children's Museums in Pittsburgh, and several Art Museums in New York. Charlie initially gravitates to the arts (paintings, crafts and sculptures), but after House took the twins to a Kids Science presentation at Hopkins, Charlie has been obsessing about learning more about chemistry.

Cuddy smiles at the thought that both twins are interested in different fields of sciences and arts. While she taught Ethan the various bones of the human body, Charlie learned the periodic table from his father. House initially taught Charlie the "Element Song" but the boy wasn't content in just memorizing the periodic table, he wanted to learn about each of the elements. Meanwhile, Ethan loves music and can spend hours playing the piano until he gets it perfect. Charlie on the other hand enjoys painting, creating crafts, and sculpting clay. So much so, that House created an art room just for Charlie in the club house. The twins' passion has also affected their nightly reading materials. Instead of storybooks, the boys now prefer science books. Both parents now read them books about bugs, dinosaurs, space, wild life and from time to time, House will tell the boys about different infectious diseases. The twins will pretend to be their father's ducklings as they try to diagnose a patient based on their symptoms.

Shortly after they enter the Liberty Science Center, Charlie tugs his mother's hand and asks, "Can we go there?" pointing at the young boy trying to cross a steel beam that's about two storys high from the ground.  
Cuddy looks in horror and replies, "I don't know. That looks very dangerous."  
Another boy standing beside them offers, "No, it's not. They put a harness on you and it's really cool."  
Cuddy quickly changes the subject and informs Charlie about the 3-D dinosaur exhibit.  
The young boy's eyes light up in excitement.  
Cuddy remembers how the twins couldn't stop talking after visiting the Dinosaur Hall at the Smithsonian so she knows Charlie will enjoy the show. After the 3-D dinosaur show, they head to watch the iMax movie about, "Forces of Nature." Charlie loves the life-size tornados, hurricanes, and floods they showed on the screen. Cuddy had to force Charlie to take a lunch break since he just wanted to continue visiting all the different exhibits.

After ordering their lunch, Cuddy checks her e-mail on her blackberry. She rolls her eyes as she sees six e-mails from her husband, all with photo attachments. There are pictures of Lizzy and Jake having a tea party, a close up picture of Jake wearing a tiara and boa, Jake, Lizzy and Ethan having a tea party, House and Ethan riding a bumper car, Ethan riding a go-kart, and House and Ethan posing with laser guns on their hands and wearing some contraptions on their body. The pictures bring a smile to Cuddy's face and an idea that she should get pictures of Charlie as well. After visiting the T. Rex named Sue, Charlie convinces his mom to go visit the Skyscraper exhibit, where they walk through the "Wind Tunnel" that simulates high wind. After a lot of begging from Charlie, both mother and son bravely step out onto an 18-foot-high beam with only a security harness to keep them from falling. As Cuddy looks at the picture taken by one of the staff, she sees nothing but fear on her face while her son's face displays nothing but a smile.

As they stroll through the various exhibits, Cuddy reads out loud what's written on the wall plaque.  
After spotting blow-up pictures of microbes, Charlie asks, "What's in there Mommy?"  
Cuddy reads the sign out loud, "Infection Connection: Spreading the word about the spread of disease."  
Charlie smiles and exclaims, "Cool! Can we go there?"  
Cuddy nods and thinks to herself, "Only the son of Greg House will get excited about an exhibit on infectious diseases."  
Charlie sees a giant blue nose by the entrance of the exhibit and walks closer to examine the nostril and finds himself being sneezed on. While Cuddy groans in disgust, Charlie grins and announces, "Daddy and Ethan will definitely like this. Can we bring them next time, Mommy?"  
"Sure hon."

***

_**Jake-Lizzy Day  
**_After playing tea party, Lizzy insists that she performs all her new songs for her brother.  
Jake argues, "You don't have to Lizzy, remember you serenaded everyone on our drive back yesterday?"_**  
**_"Oh yeah, but you didn't see me dance."  
Jake groans and asks, "It comes with a dance?"  
"Of course, silly. Oma said that every song must have a dance."  
"You mean choreography?"  
"Yeah, that word!"

Lizzy starts singing and dancing her heart out.  
Jake can't help but laugh and about five minutes into it he's dancing with his sister.  
So much so, that Jake is exhausted and hungry.  
He heads to the fridge but doesn't see anything he likes so he asks Lizzy, "Are you hungry?"  
She thinks for a few seconds and nods.  
"How about if we go to the mall and get something to eat?"  
"Okay."  
Jake quickly calls his Mom but her cell phone automatically forwards the call to her voice mail.  
He calls his father instead, "Dad? This is Jake."  
"What's up?"  
"I wanna take Lizzy out to the mall."  
"Okay, did you call your Mom?"  
"I tried, but she's not picking up her phone. So, what should I take?"  
"Hmmm…take Lizzy's pink backpack. It normally has diapers, a change of clothes and stuff in it."  
"I thought she was already potty trained."  
"Have you heard of accidents? It happens."  
"Okay. What else?"  
"Don't forget the stroller and her sippy cup."  
"Got it! Diaper bag, stroller and sippy cup."

After Jake gathers all of Lizzy's stuff, he asks his baby sister, "Are you ready princess?"  
The little girl shakes her head, points at her hair and says, "You need to fix my hair. Mommy and Oma brushes my hair and puts ribbons in it."  
"Ah…It looks fine. I like your hair like that."  
She crosses her arms in front of her and replies, "I don't like it. Daddy calls it a rat's nest. Can you fix it… please?"  
Jake drops everything he's carrying, looks for the brush and tries to comb his sister's hair.  
After successfully taming Lizzy's "rat's nest", he looks for a ribbon and sees an assortment of hair clips and ribbons. After struggling to put a ribbon on properly for at least fifteen minutes, Jake calls his father again.  
"Dad?"  
"Hey, are you at the mall already?"  
"Nope. Lizzy wants a ribbon in her hair, but I can't get the darn thing on."  
House busts out laughing.  
"Dad, that's not helping."  
"I'm sorry. Pick one of the hair band thingys. They have ribbons on top, but it's easy to put on. Just put it on, push her hair back and you're done."  
Jake follow his Dad's instructions and Lizzy is happy.

As they finally head out to the garage, he realizes that there's no car seat in the car.  
He groans in frustration and calls his Dad again.  
"Dad, do we have an extra car seat?"  
House thinks for a moment and replies, "I don't think so. I placed them in your Oma's car."  
Jake sighs out loud and exclaims, "I'm not having kids anytime soon!"  
The remark gets a smug smile from House.  
_**TBC **_

_*******_

_**Author's Note #2:**__ Writing can be lonely, please drop me a line and let me know what you think.  
_


	13. Chapter 13

_First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone for the delayed update. It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me and I appreciate all your patience. Secondly, I want to express my sincerest thanks to my __wonderful beta, __**i luv ewansmile**__ for fitting me into her busy schedule. Finally, __please don't forget to drop me a note and tell me what you think._

_*******_

_**Jake-Lizzy Day Continued**_  
A half an hour later, Jake and Lizzy are in the kitchen eating their homemade lunch.  
Jake asks, "Do you like your grilled cheese sandwich?"  
The little girl raises her thumb, and nods her head in approval.  
"Must be that good if you can't talk," teases Jake.  
"It tastes like Daddy's."  
"Good! So, what do you want to do after lunch?"  
Lizzy ponders for a minute and yells, "Let's go visit baby Becky!"  
"Sorry, princess. Remember, we don't have a car seat?"  
"Oh yeah. Can Oma drive us to baby Becky's house?"  
Jake smiles at the idea and replies, "That's a great idea! Let me call Oma."  
However, after a quick call with Blythe Jake informs his sister, "Sorry, princess. Oma is out of town."  
"Where is Oma?"  
"She's in New York."  
"Why?"  
"She and her friend (_Michael_) are watching a show."  
"Is Ryan Seacrest there?"  
Jake smiles and shakes his head, "I doubt it."  
"Why?"  
"They're not watching American Idol, they're watching a Broadway show."  
"What's that?"  
"Hmmm…you should ask Mommy. She loves going to those types of shows."  
"Does Daddy go with Mommy?"  
Jake grins, "I doubt it but you can ask Mommy that question."  
"Okay. Jake?"  
"Yeah princess?"  
"What do we do now?"  
Jake takes a deep breath and asks, "Wanna go for a swim?"  
"Okay."

The next half hour is spent getting Lizzy ready. As the little girl couldn't decide on whether to wear her pink "Disney Princesses" swimsuit or her green "Little Mermaid" swimsuit. Afterwards, she struggles with the decision on whether to put her hair in a ponytail or to wear a swim cap. As the little girl is finally satisfied with her wardrobe, she asks her brother, "Do Lizzy look good?"  
Jake nods his head and replies, "You look like the little princess on the Disney catalog."  
As he grab his iPhone to take a picture of his little sister, Lizzy happily poses modeling her matching pink "Disney Princesses" swimsuit, swim cap, slippers, and sun glasses.

Shortly after entering the club house, Jake tells Lizzy to wear her floaties.  
The little girl dramatically exclaims, "It doesn't match my swimsuit."  
Jake groans, "They're pink. They match your swimsuit."  
"No! That's "Dora the Explorer!" I'm wearing a "Disney Princesses" swimsuit."  
"Lizzy, no one will see it. We're the only two people in here."  
"But, Mommy and Daddy always give me the same floaties as my swimsuit."  
"I know, but I don't know where they keep your other floaties."  
The little girl refuses to budge and instead simply crosses her arms in front of her chest.  
Jake rolls his eyes and informs Lizzy, "I promise you won't need them that long."  
"Why?"  
"Because I'm going to teach you how to swim."  
"I already know how to swim."  
"No, I'm gonna teach you how to swim without your floaties."  
"But Mommy and Daddy said I'm not allowed to swim without my floaties."  
Jake smiles and patiently explains to his sister that she only needs them because she can't swim on her own.

An hour later, Lizzy is so excited to show her new skills to her parents that she refuses to take her afternoon nap.  
Jake exasperatedly states, "Lizzy, you need to take a nap."  
Lizzy pouts and replies, "No I don't!"  
"Yes, you do."  
"I'm a big girl now, I don't need a nap!"  
"Yes, you do or else you'll be cranky at dinner time."  
"No, I will not be cranky."  
"Remember the last time you didn't take a nap, you fell asleep during dinner time and you missed your favorite dessert?"  
The little girl nods her heard and sadly replies, "But I wanna show Mommy and Daddy that I'm a big girl and I can swim without floaties now."  
"Mommy and Daddy will not be home until later this afternoon. There's plenty of time for you to take a nap. Besides, you need to rest, so you'll have lots of energy to swim for Mom and Dad."  
"O…kay."  
"That's my good girl!"  
Lizzy giggles and replies, "You and Daddy are funny."  
Jake raises his eyebrows and asks, "Why do you say that?"  
Lizzy shrugs her shoulder and replies, "Because you're my pretend Daddy."  
Jake nods and answers, "I guess, I'm your pretend Daddy when he's not here."  
Lizzy argues, "Nope, you're my pretend Daddy even when Daddy is here! Charlie and I played it this morning to the girl on the phone."  
"What game were you and Charlie playing?"  
The little girl yawns and answers, "I'm tired. Can you carry me to my room?"  
"Sure, princess."

***

_**House-Ethan Day Continued**_  
Meanwhile, across town House and Ethan arrived at "The Funplex" around 10:30. The place just opened so there's not much of a crowd and they have the place all to themselves. They first tried the electric go-karts with House driving and Ethan on the passenger seat. Afterwards, they ride the bumper cars. At first Ethan is a bit hesitant but after a few encouragements from his father, the boy volunteers to drive. Both father and son have a blast as they play laser tag and ride the motion simulator. Ethan is simply beside himself as his father patiently teaches him how to play arcade games and bowling.

A sweaty Ethan comes running out of the "Foam Frenzy" place.  
House smiles and greets his son, "Did you have fun in there?"  
The boy excitedly replies, "Yes Daddy, they have (_foam_) balls all over the place. I vacuumed all the balls to fill up the bucket and then dropped it on the kids below."  
"Yeah, I saw you firing cannons up there too."  
The little boy nods and explains, "The boy over there showed me how to use the air cannon and air blaster. It was really fun Daddy."  
"Good. Are you ready for a lunch break?"  
"O..kay. We should bring Jake, Charlie and Lizzy next time."  
House grins and asks, "You think they'll like it?"  
The boy sips his drink and raises his thumb in approval.

After lunch, they head outdoors to ride the gas-powered go-karts. Since the ride requires the driver to have a valid license, Ethan was relegated to a passenger. Shortly after, Ethan's patience is rewarded as his father gives him his own kiddie kart to drive by himself. The boy is beaming with excitement as he takes the wheel. Of course, House takes a picture of the proud moment and e-mails it to his wife. Then the two end the day with a round of miniature golf.  
Ethan asks, "Daddy?"  
"Yes?"  
"Thank you for taking me to Funplex, Daddy. I really had fun today!"  
House tussles his son's hair and replies, "I'm glad to hear that, E."  
"And Daddy?"  
"Hmmm…"  
"I love you and you're the best Daddy in the world."  
Ethan's declaration puts a big smile on House's face. He picks up his son and gives him a big hug.

***

_**Nighty-Night**_  
House is brushing his teeth getting ready for bed when Cuddy decides to gently caress his chest from behind. House raises his eyebrow and asks, "Can't you wait until I finish brushing my teeth before you start molesting me?"  
"This is called an embrace as oppose to…" as she reaches over to his crotch area and lightly grabbing his 'love muscle'.  
"Hey, Mr. Happy doesn't like to be manhandled. He responds better to being stroked, gently if I may add."  
Cuddy kisses her husband's neck and teasingly replies, "Is that right?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"How will he feel if I entertain the twins instead of him?"  
"My twins or my other twins?"  
Cuddy starts laughing and replies, "Our twin boys upstairs who are waiting for me to tuck them in."  
"I thought Jake was taking care of them?"  
"I promised Ethan that I'll tuck him into bed. He wants to tell me about his adventure today."  
"I guess I better go up with you to make sure that those boys don't spill any more beans."  
"Speaking of beans, you haven't answered my question. What's with this newfound fascination with Jake's love life?"  
House coyly answers, "There's nothing to tell."  
"You know, I'll eventually find out, right?"  
"But by then, it won't matter."  
"Okay, just make sure you don't do anything that he'll resent you for."  
House's facial expression turns serious as he asks, "What do you mean?"  
As Cuddy realizes that she hits a nerve, she quickly dismisses it by replying, "Nothing."  
"You think I'm gonna screw up?"  
"No! I just want you to be careful with whatever it is you're scheming since Jake looks up to you."  
After a few moments House confesses, "His girlfriend is pressuring him to pop the question and he's seriously thinking about it."  
"Oh my god! How come he never mentioned her to me? He's too young to get married."  
"My thoughts exactly."  
Cuddy smiles as it dawns on her the extent to which her husband has planned everything to ensure that their eldest gets the message loud and clear—he's much too young to get married!  
Cuddy leans over to her husband and whispers, "I think you deserve a special treat Dr. House."  
"Oh, does it include you and another girl in bed with me?"  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and replies, "The only threesome you'll get in my bed will be between you and both your hands."  
_**TBC**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note:**__ Special thanks to my wonderful beta, __**i luv ewansmile.**__ I greatly appreciate your edits and encouragements. I'm also looking forward to our next "experiment" :)  
_

***

Cuddy leans over to her husband and whispers, "I think you deserve a special treat Dr. House."  
"Oh, does it include you and another girl in bed with me?"  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and replies, "The only threesome you'll get in my bed will be between you and both your hands."  
"Hey, I thought I was getting a special treat?"  
"You are, just not in the form of a threesome."  
"Oh well, can't blame me for trying."  
Cuddy gently grabs her husband and announces, "Let's go before the boys start raising havoc upstairs."

***

_**June 15, 2009, Monday  
**_Cuddy kisses her sleeping husband and informs him, "I'll take Lizzy to the daycare this morning so you don't have to drag her to the airport."  
House grunts, "Huh?"  
"Remember, you promised to drive Jake to the airport this morning?"  
"Oh yeah. What time is it?"  
"It's 7:45. I didn't have time to make breakfast for you guys. Can you just pick up something on the way?"  
House nods his head and asks, "Is Jake awake?"  
"Yeah, he's playing with the kiddies outside."  
House gingerly gets up and reaches for his wife.  
"Greg, not now."  
"Come on, it's not every day that we have Jake babysitting for us in the morning," as he continues kissing Cuddy on the neck.  
Cuddy half-heartedly protests, "I'm running late."  
House smirks as Cuddy pulls her skirt up to give him quick access.

***

_**9:00AM**_  
House is whistling the melody of "_I'm in the Mood for Love_" while driving his son to the airport.  
Jake observes, "Someone is in a great mood."  
House looks over to his son and replies, "You would be too if you just got what I got from your Mom this morning." To give more emphasis, House wags his eyebrows suggestively.  
Jake rolls his eyes and retorts, "At least one of us is happy."  
"What's that suppose to mean?"  
"Lori just dumped me this morning, over the phone. She couldn't even wait until I got back."  
"Yeah? It could be worst; she could have sent you a Dear John e-mail or text."  
Jake nonchalantly replies, "I guess."  
"So, you leave for a week and she already found a replacement?"  
"Who knows? She accused me of cheating on her. She said, she even has proof."  
"You have a sex tape?"  
"No! She said she found a picture of me with another girl."  
House gives an exaggerated sighs and replies, "Could be worst. She could have a picture of you with another man."  
Jake laughs at his father's response and adds, "I'm not even sure if it's legit. For all I know, it could be an old girlfriend or something."  
"Well, you seem to be taking it well."  
"I am. If she doesn't trust me, then I don't really want to be with her."  
"Wow! I thought you said she might be THE ONE."  
"Yeah, I was wrong. Besides, it wouldn't have worked anyway."  
House tries to hide a smirk and pretends to asks, "Why's that?"  
"Just stuff."  
"Stuff like… forgetting to tell her that you're a doctor or not telling your Mom and I who she really is?"  
"Huh? How do you…?"  
"I tried contacting her for your surprise birthday party, but…"  
"But what?"  
"Spoke to her roommate instead."  
"Her roommate is a bit of a chatterbox."  
"You don't say? Anyway, she spilled her guts about Tori's new boyfriend from Hopkins. Who is so poor he holds two jobs to support himself in college?"  
Jake smirks and argues, "I had to explain the long hospital hours. How were you able dig up dirt about me?"  
"I might have mentioned that I was calling on behalf of Wilson about the internship that you had applied for at Princeton."  
"She actually believed you?"  
"You must have done a convincing job of acting. The girl really believes that you need a job badly."  
Jake smiles and shrugs his shoulders.  
House asks, "So, have you met your girlfriend's Nazi father?"  
"What? Oh…Mr. Buchanan is not a Nazi. He's just… conservative."  
"No, George Will is conservative. Your girlfriend's Dad is right up there with Rush Limbaugh. I could just imagine the look in your mother's face when and if she finds out.  
Jake sighs and replies, "I was dreading that too."

_House was initially suspicious when his son came home unannounced, but when Jake mentioned that he was considering proposing to his girlfriend, it certainly piqued House's curiosity. He initially thought of inviting Lori to Jake's birthday party but quickly changed his mind after discovering that his son is dating the daughter of Liam Buchanan, the ultra conservative pundit who's known for his controversial stands on social issues. House's curiosity turns into fatherly concern at the thought that the Buchanan girl may have been 'corrupting' his son. However, he promptly dismisses the idea after hearing the hesitation in his son's voice during their initial heart-to-heart conversation. House being House concludes that his son is unhappy about his relationship but is too much of a gentleman to break up with his girlfriend. So, he set out to do __everything to ensure a favorable result for his son._

House inquires, "I'm interested to know what does 'Mr. Traditional Values' think about you shagging his daughter?"  
Jake shrugs his shoulders.  
"No! Don't tell me you never hit that?"  
"Come on, Dad."  
"That's how women fuck with our brain. They withhold sex and we're done."  
"Dad, among all people you should know that there's more to a relationship than sex."  
"Sex is the cornerstone of any successful relationship. You need to know from the get go if you're sexually compatible with your partner. Your Mom and I knew that we're compatible from the start."  
"Please Dad. I don't really want to know about you and Mom's sex life."  
House smirks and asks, "So, did Caramel and her friend do a number on you?"  
"Dad? My girlfriend just dumped me."  
"So? It's not like you're in love with this Buchanan girl anyway?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
House smirks and points at his son, "You got that trait from your Oma."  
"What trait?"  
"The one where you'd rather be unhappy than confront your girlfriend that the relationship sucks."  
"I…I told you that I was planning to propose to her."  
"If you were really serious about her, you would have brought her home and introduce her to your Mom. Instead, you spent your 21st birthday as far away from your girlfriend."  
Jake looks at his father in astonishment and asks, "You got all of that from our one conversation?"  
As House pulls over by the airport, he smiles and declares, "I'm not considered a world renowned diagnostician for nothing."  
Jake smiles and can't help but shake his head in amazement.

***

After dropping off his son at the airport, House heads straight to PPTH for work. At the last minute, he decides to take a right turn and visit his wife. But before he can open the door to Cuddy's office, a woman quickly stops him.  
House asks, "Who the heck are you?"  
"Hi, I'm Chelsea. I'm Dr. Cuddy's new assistant."  
House raises his eyebrow and replies, "You'll soon be Cuddy's ex-assistant if you don't step aside."  
"I'm sorry Mister. But Dr. Cuddy is busy right now."  
House looks over Chelsea's shoulder and through the glass pane to check who Cuddy's visitor is. Instead of spotting a high-powered donor, Cuddy is talking to a dark haired teenage boy.  
House asks, "Who's the kid?"  
"His name is Mark. He's Dr. Cuddy's son."  
House does a double take and asks, "Her what?"  
_**TBC**_

***

As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)


	15. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note:**__ A very big thank you to my beta, __**i luv ewansmile**__, whose patience and encouragements are 1000% invaluable. _

***

House asks, "Who's the kid?"  
Chelsea replies, "His name is Mark. He's Dr. Cuddy's son."  
House does a double take and asks, "Her what?"  
"He said he's Dr. Cuddy's son."  
"And you believed him?"  
"Nurse Regina said that Dr. Cuddy's son is in town so… He's not her son?"  
House snaps, "No! I just dropped off our eldest son at the airport." He quickly swings the door open and gives Cuddy a questioning look after seeing his wife hugging the young man. As the young man quickly turns around to wipe the tears from his eyes, Cuddy glares at her husband.  
The boy who is about 15 or 16 years old, with a Zac Efron hairstyle apologizes to Cuddy.  
"I'm so sorry Lisa. I didn't mean to bother you with this, but I had nowhere to turn."  
Cuddy rubs the boy's back and consoles him, "You did the right thing coming to me."  
House looks over to Cuddy as he waits to be introduced to the boy.  
Cuddy starts, "Mark, I want you to meet Dr. House. He's head of the Diagnostics Department."  
The young man's eyes light up as he offers his hand out.  
House being House simply nods his head.  
Mark asks, "Thank you for agreeing to see my Dad."  
House raises his eyebrow at his wife. But before he can open his mouth, Cuddy asks Mark, "Does your Dad know you're here?"  
The young man shakes his head and replies, "No, I skipped school to catch the bus here."  
"Call your Dad and let him know that you're here. I'll make arrangements for him to be transferred to Princeton."  
"Thanks Lisa and you too, Dr. House."

As the boy heads out to the lobby, House asks, "Is there something you wanna tell me?"  
Cuddy raises her eyebrows and asks, "Other than what took you so long to drop off Jake?"  
"I asked first. Who's the Zac Efron wannabe?"  
"His name is Mark and his father is an old friend of mine."  
"Why would I agree to see his father?"  
"Because I'm asking you for your help."  
"What type of a friend is he to you?"  
Cuddy quickly changes the topic, "I've answered your question, now answer mine."  
House looks at his wife suspiciously but replies, "I had a heart-to-heart talk with junior about his girl trouble."  
House's response elicits a smile on Cuddy's face as she realizes that it's the first time her husband had refers to their eldest son as junior. Cuddy often teasingly refers to Jake as junior since his middle name is Gregory but House will always roll his eyes but never acknowledge it.  
Cuddy's smile is quickly erased as she worriedly asks, "What girl trouble? Did he propose to his girlfriend?"  
"Nope. She broke up with him this morning over the phone."  
"Oh my baby! How is he taking it?"  
"I'm not answering any more questions until you answer mine."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"How well do you know the kid's father?"  
"Brad? We used to be together, but that was a long time ago."  
"Is the kid yours?"  
"What kind of question is that?"  
"It's a valid question considering the kid told your assistant that he's your son."  
Cuddy scoffs and replies, "He was desperate. His father is sick and no one will return his calls."  
"It was a simple question Lise. Is the kid yours or not?"  
"No. While Mark isn't mine biologically, I love him like my own."  
A dejected House asks, "When will you tell me about his father?"  
"Greg, why does it matter? I have not seen Brad in ten years. I don't even know what he looks like now."  
"And here you are asking me to cure him."  
"Because you're the best damn doctor I have! You cured Stacey's husband why not him?"  
"It's not the same Lise. I never hid the fact that I was with Stacey."  
"I'm sure Stacey wasn't the only woman you were with after we broke up in college. Did you actually think that I never had any other relationships besides you?"  
Before House could respond, Cuddy's assistant knocks to inform her that her 10:30 appointment has arrived. Cuddy is still fuming that she didn't see the hurt in House's eyes as he desperately searches for reassurance from his wife.

***

Wilson leans over the balcony railing and says, "She's right, you know."  
"Hey, you're supposed to be my best friend. Shouldn't you be on my side?"  
"Not if you're being an idiot."  
House puffs his cheeks and replies, "She never once mentioned this Brad guy before."  
"Did you two exchange a list of all your ex's before?"  
"Of course not!"  
"Then why are you surprised that she was with other men?"  
House places both hands on his face and dejectedly replies, "I don't know."  
"Are you worried that this other guy will sweep Cuddy off her feet and leave you?"  
"No!" And after a few seconds, House adds, "Lise treats this boy like our kids. I wonder how this other guy treated Jake."  
Wilson sighs as his friend reveals his true apprehension. "Are you worried that he treated Jake badly?"  
House nods and softly mumbles, "I wasn't there for Jake. What if this Brad guy was as bad as my Dad was to me?"  
Wilson takes his cell phone and hands it to House, "Call Jake and ask him what he thinks about this other guy."

***

While Chase, Kutner, and Thirteen are busy chatting in the conference room, Cuddy heads straight to House's office.  
House looks up from his laptop and nods at his wife.  
She hands him a folder and says, "Here's your new patient's file. They're transferring him from Dartmouth tonight."  
"I'm not staying late for him."  
"I know. I just wanted your team to look at his file and see what you guys can come up with."  
House nods and looks over the file. After a few minutes, he realizes that Cuddy hasn't move and is still standing in front of his desk.  
"Did you want something else?"  
Cuddy nervously replies, "No, I mean yes. I just want you to know that I love you. Always have and always will. Even when I was with him, you were THE ONE."  
House looks over to the conference room, stands up, and points to the balcony for privacy.

Cuddy continues, "I'm sorry if I didn't mention him to you. I guess, I didn't expect to ever hear from him again."  
"How did you two meet?"  
"Brad was a professor at the university and I had just gotten the endocrinologist job here. We met through the university after care facility. Both our boys hated the facility so we babysat for each other."  
"Did he treat you well?"  
"Brad was very good to Jake. He was the one who advised me to enroll Jake in the Talented and Gifted (TaG) program. To a passionate teacher like him, Jake was a dream student."  
"You didn't answer my question."  
"I did. Jake was my world. Brad was devoted to Jake and that's all that mattered to me."  
"He was the father you've always wanted for Jake?"  
"Yes. The same way I was the mother, he wanted for Mark. It was a convenient arrangement for both of us."  
"Where's the mother?"  
"He's a widower. His wife died of complications while giving birth to their second child."  
"He had another child?"  
"No, the baby didn't survive."  
"How long were you two…?"  
"Almost three years."  
"Lucky for me, your little arrangement didn't lead to happily ever after."  
Cuddy shakes her head and replies, "As I said, even when I was with him, you were still THE ONE."  
House smirks and smugly asks, "He's that bad in the sack, huh?"  
Cuddy teasing retorts, "No, you're just that good. No one can even come close."  
House smiles and leans over to kiss his wife.  
Cuddy asks, "you know that I love you, right?"  
House nods, but as she's about to leave, he asks, "Why didn't you marry him?"  
Cuddy takes a deep breath and replies, "He cheated on me."  
"With one of his coed students?"  
"No worst, I caught him in bed with my best friend. My married best friend."  
_**TBC**_

***

As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)


	16. Chapter 16

_**Author's Note:**__ Given the decline in interest (only got two reviews last chapter) and my busy schedule, I've decided to cut this story short. I'll have a few more chapters to go and I'm calling it a day. Thank you all for coming along for the ride with me on this Huddy adventure. It's been a blast!  
_

_Special thanks to my wonderful beta, __**i luv ewansmile.**__ I greatly appreciate all your support and encouragement--you're a total rock star! _

***

"No worst, I caught him in bed with my best friend. My married best friend."  
"Seriously?"  
"They were supposed to keep an eye on the boys and there they were in my bed, in my house."  
"So, they run off and live happily ever after?"  
Cuddy rolls her eyes and teasingly replies, "I think you've been spending too much time with Lizzy."  
"No really. What happened?"  
"Tanya confessed to her husband. He forgave her and they moved back to the west coast to give their marriage another try."  
"Did you forgive him?"  
"No, I don't even know what to make of it."  
"Did he apologize? Did he even try?"  
"He tried, but the damage had been done. Breaking up with him was one of the most difficult decisions in my life."  
"Why? I thought you didn't love him."  
Cuddy nods her head and replies, "Our complicated arrangement was based on trust. When that was broken, it had no leg to stand on. The hard part was taking away from Jake the only father figure he ever knew at that time. I also had to leave Mark; I was the only maternal figure he ever knew. I still have nightmares from memories of Mark crying his eyes out and asking me why I didn't love him anymore."  
"How old were the boys?"  
"Jake was twelve and Mark was seven."  
"How did Jake take it?"  
"As he always does, with a stiff upper lip. Even when he was young, he was always more worried about me than himself. Remember Baltimore (_in 2000_)?"  
House nods and asks, "What about it?"  
"You and I met a few months after my breakup with Brad. I was lonely and there you were. I was dying to tell you about Jake."  
"Why didn't you?"  
"I was scared that you wouldn't want any part of Jake's life. I just couldn't risk hurting him again."  
"You think Jake blames you for your breakup?"  
"I know it broke his heart, but he'll never admit it."  
"If it makes you feel any better, Jake doesn't remember much of the other guy."  
"You asked him about Brad? When?"  
"I spoke to him earlier. Made sure he arrived safely and stuff."  
"What did he say about Brad?"  
"Just that you dated a nerd from Princeton. It was good while it lasted, but he broke your heart and that was that."  
"Those were his exact words?"  
"I might have changed a few, but the gist is the same."  
"He didn't blame me for the break up?"  
"You think he didn't know that your boyfriend was knocking boots with your best friend in the next room?"  
"I…I just assume that he didn't."  
"Give the kid a break. Don't forget he has my genes."  
Cuddy smile and says, "Thank you Greg."  
"For what?"  
"For being a wonderful father to all our children. And I can't tell you enough how much you complete me. I love you very much."  
"Lise?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Wanna join Lizzy and me for lunch?"  
"Where are you two heading?"  
"I promised to take her to the park. I'll grab us some sandwich and we'll have a picnic at the park."  
Cuddy smiles and replies, "Only if you promise to fill in the details of your heart-to-heart conversation with junior this morning."

***

House enters the conference room, hands his team their new patient's file and announces, "43-year old male, suffering from shortness of breath, fatigue, rashes, palpitations, and insomnia."  
Chase asks, "Where's the patient?"  
"He's being transferred from Dartmouth tonight. Until then, check his file and see if the other eight doctors that saw him missed anything."  
Kutner speculates, "It could be environmental."  
"Highly unlikely. The son is healthy as an ox, but it's worth a look."  
Chase asks, "You want us to drive up to New Hampshire and break into the patient's home?"  
House answers, "I have to pick up the boys from school this afternoon. We'll do it tomorrow."  
Kutner whines, "That's like 300 hundred miles away?"  
Hadley thinks out loud, "You rarely visit a patient's home. Much more when it's 300 some miles away."  
House sarcastically replies, "What can I say? I'm a changed man. Coma can do that to you."  
Chase suspiciously asks, "What's so special about this guy? You get hundreds of these types of requests and you won't even give them the time of day even for a second."  
"Yeah, but none of them come with the seal of approval from the Dean of Medicine."  
Chase argues, "Since when do you say yes to Cuddy's every request?"  
House smirks and replies, "I kinda wanna continue hitting that. If the missus is happy, I'm happy. You should know, you're a married man yourself."  
Chase counters, "As a married man myself, I know that the missus will not take it kindly if I'm not home by six."  
House replies, "Not a problem. Kutner will drive with me."  
"Why me? Thirteen drives a beamer."  
"No can do. Don't wanna give the missus any reason to get jealous."

"Fine, Wilson will drive with me."  
Hadley rolls her eyes and quickly changes the topic. "It might be pulmonary scleroderma."  
Chase chimes in, "It could be chronic lung infection."

***

After House picks up his daughter at the daycare, he heads over to Cuddy's office.  
As House opens the door, Lizzy quickly runs to her mother.  
The little girl asks, "Mommy coming to the park with me and Daddy?"  
Cuddy smiles and replies, "Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world."  
"Mommy?"  
"Yes, princess?"  
"I don't want to dirty my pretty dress. Did you bring me play clothes?"  
Cuddy laughs, "Of course honey. I'm sure I have something in the emergency bag for you to wear."  
House also can't help but laugh at how particular his daughter is with her clothes.  
Cuddy pulls out a pair of shorts from the bag but House warns, "She'll have a hard time sliding down with those shorts."  
The little girl nods her head in agreement and asks, "Can I wear something that will let me slide?"  
"Hmmm… how about this pink scrub?"  
"I love it, Mommy."  
House interrupts, "While you change her, I'm gonna get our sandwiches for lunch."  
"Greg, can you get an extra turkey sandwich and coke?"  
"Why? Feeling extra hungry today Dr. Cuddy-House?"  
"No! I'm not P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T!" Cuddy spells the word out so her daughter won't hear it.  
House raises his eyebrow and asks, "Who's joining us?"  
"I thought I'd invite Mark. He's in the staff lounge doing his homework."  
"Right! Teenagers just love doing their homework after they ditch school."  
"He's a good kid, Greg. His father has been sick for the last six months. I just want to give him a little stability."

Lizzy worriedly asks, "Are you sick Daddy?"  
House answers, "No, princess. Mommy is talking about her friend."  
"Okay. Are you going to fix Mommy's friend?"  
"We'll try honey. For now, Daddy needs you to change so you'll be ready when I get back."  
"Okay. Can Daddy give Lizzy a big kiss?"  
House leans over, kisses his little princess and his queen._**  
TBC**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author's Note #1:**__ A big thanks to my beta __**i luv ewansmile.**__ You not only rock, but super fast too! _

***

Lizzy is sitting on her father's shoulder as the foursome heads to the park.  
Mark walks alongside Cuddy and says, "Thanks for inviting me over for lunch. I can't even remember the last time I've been on a picnic."  
"You're very welcome. We thought it would be a welcome break from doing your homework."  
"Thanks. I just finished my book report. Hopefully, I can show it Dad tonight."  
Cuddy smiles and asks, "Does he review all your homework?"  
Mark smirks and shakes his head, "Not since I was in the third grade. But my book report is on Orwell's _Animal Farm_. It's one of Dad's favorite."  
"That was one of Jake's favorite as well."  
"Yeah? How is Jake?"  
"He's doing fine. You just actually missed him; he left this morning for Baltimore. He's now in his second year of residency at Hopkins."  
"He's already a doctor?"  
Cuddy nods.  
"Wow! Dad will be stoked to hear that. He always talks about how Jake is a genius. He still has pictures of us in his study."  
"Your Dad has always been very fond of Jake."  
"Me too. I always remember him as a cool big brother. Lizzy must love him."  
"Actually, Greg and I have four children. Aside from Jake and Lizzy, we have twin boys. They all idolize their big brother."  
"Awesome! Any pets? You gotta have pets?"  
Cuddy smiles and replies, "The twins have been begging for one but, they're too young to take care of it. But enough of my family, how about you? What have you been up to?"  
The young man simply shrugs his shoulder and replies, "Up until two weeks ago, my biggest problem was getting my driver's license. Now, I'm not even sure what will happen tomorrow."  
"What do you mean up until two weeks ago? According to your father's file, he's been in and out of the hospital for the last six months?"  
"He kept his illness from me." Mark regretfully adds, "Maybe, if I had gone home more often or asked more questions, I would have known sooner."  
"You don't live with your Dad?"  
"No, I go to a boarding school down in Exeter. I haven't been home since the beginning of the school year. I tried calling him two weeks ago to make end of the school year arrangements but he never returned my call."  
"Oh my god! What did you do?"  
"I called his office at Dartmouth and his assistant told me that he was in the hospital. I took the first bus to Hanover."  
"That must have been an awful way to find out?"  
"The hard part is not getting an answer to what was wrong with him. I went through his files and Dad has seen eight doctors in the last six months and none of them know what's ailing him."  
"How did you come across me?"  
"Dad keeps a meticulous record of his correspondents. I noticed that a couple of the doctors recommended Dr. House. I googled him and came across an old article that he was in a coma. The article mentioned that he works for Princeton and you're the Dean of Medicine so, I took a chance."  
"If you had come across that article four months ago, you would have missed me."  
"Why?"  
"I took a leave of absence from Princeton for about a year."  
"To take care of Dr. House?"  
Cuddy nods and replies, "Him and the kids. Family always comes first."  
"Lisa?"  
"Yes?"  
"Thanks again for convincing Dr. House to take Dad as a patient."  
"You're very welcome. Now, let's hurry up before Greg eats our sandwiches."

***

Lizzy giggles at the top of her lungs as she begs Mark to push the swing higher.  
Meanwhile, House has made himself comfortable lying on the blanket with his head resting on his wife's lap.  
Cuddy asks, "So, are you going to tell me what you did that cost Jake his girlfriend?"  
House smirks and replies, "Hey, I resent that accusation."  
Cuddy playfully combs her husband's hair and answers, "Are you denying it?"  
House smirks and says, "Yes, all I did was asks Jason and Kutner to post pictures of Jake's birthday party on their facebook page so I can check them out."  
"House!"  
"Don't worry, there were no racy pictures. This is Jake we're talking about."  
"There must be something if the girlfriend broke up with him over it."  
House begins to laughs.  
"What's so funny?"  
"Well, I was hoping that Jake will be the one to explain about the girlfriend."  
"What about the girlfriend?"  
"Heard of the infamous Liam Buchanan?"  
"Who hasn't? Why? Oh, no he didn't!"  
"Yup! Your boy hooked up with Mr. Traditional Value's daughter."  
"Oh, my poor boy!"  
"Tell me about it. Just imagine dating someone for five months and not getting any?"  
Cuddy smacks her husband on the chest and House yells, "Ouch!"  
"Well, at least I won't be a grandma anytime soon."

***

_**June 16, 2009, Tuesday 9:30AM**_  
House walks into his office and finds his team already waiting for him. Thirteen begins informing House, "The patient arrived last night and Dartmouth also turned over all his files." She points to a box on top of the conference table.  
"If the patient's files are there, why are you here?"  
Chase replies, "Given your personal interest in the patient, we thought you'd like to be informed."  
House sarcastically replies, "Consider me informed. Now, shoo!"  
Kutner argues, "Aren't you gonna ask us if we found anything significant?"  
"Did you?"  
Chase replies, "As a matter of fact we did. While we were prepping him for test, he complained about the nurses talking loudly out at the nurse station."  
"And that's medically relevant because…?"  
Chase smirks and answers, "None of us heard anything. Which mean he has hyperacusis. The extreme sensitivity to sounds could be a neurological symptom."  
Thirteen adds, "I noted a slight left facial palsy. He could be suffering from postherpetic neuralgia (chronic pain following a shingles outbreak)."  
House nods and orders, "Give him some Capsaicin to test his nerve."

About two hours later, the team comes back to House's office with the test results but their boss is nowhere in sight.  
Kutner speculates, "Maybe he already left for Hanover." But his theory quickly gets thrown away as the team spots Wilson coming out of his office.  
Thirteen asks, "Wilson, do you know where House is?"  
Wilson shakes his head and answers, "But if you find him, tell him to give me a call ASAP."  
Kutner asks the rest of the team, "What now?"

_**11:30AM- Brad's Hospital Room**_  
Brad wakes up to see his son playing a video game next to his bed.  
"Hmmm…"  
The young man quickly drops the video console and greets his father.  
"Hey Dad, how are you feeling?"  
Brad hesitantly nods and asks, "Hmmm…where am I?"  
"You're in Princeton Plainsboro hospital now. You were transferred from Dartmouth last night."  
"Thanks. Why?"  
"I asked Lisa to take you, Dad."  
"Lisa Cuddy?"  
"Yeah. She's the Dean of Medicine here."  
"I know."  
"You do? Why didn't you ask her for help before?"  
"I…" Brad quickly changes the subject and asks, "Shouldn't you be in school?"  
Mark shrugs his shoulder, "It's our last week of school."  
"But you missed a few days already. I don't want you to miss any more school days."  
"Don't worry Dad. I already took all my exams last week."  
"Did you make up for all the assignments you missed?"  
Mark smiles and replies, "I just finished my book report on the _Animal Farm_."

_**Outside of Brad's Hospital Room**_  
House is quietly observing the interaction between Brad and his son when Wilson spots him.  
Wilson asks, "What are you doing?"  
House replies, "Shhh…he can hear you?"  
"Who?"  
House pulls Wilson out to the stairway and replies, "He has ultra sensitive hearing, he can hear you."  
"Who? Oh…ok. I thought you wanted me to drive you to Hanover."  
"Oh about that, there's been a change of plan."  
"What happened?"  
"You got married."  
"What's that got to do with…oh…"  
"Yup! The bros before hoes rule definitely died when you got married to Lise's sister."  
"Sorry House. I had to explain to Rach that I'll be home late. I hope I didn't get you in trouble with Cuddy."  
"It kindda work out. I forgot that Lise and Lizzy's dance recital was tonight. Just imagine how much trouble I would be if I missed that one."  
Wilson smiles as he remembers how House initially gave Cuddy a gift certificate for pole dancing classes and instead Cuddy exchanged it for 'mommy and me' dance classes with Lizzy.  
_**TBC**_

***

_**Author's Note #2:**__ As always, I do appreciate all types of feedback, it's the only way I know if you love, hate or even reading this story ;-)_


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